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'"  A 

POPULAR  ESSAY 

aN   THE    DISORDER    FAMILIARLY    TERMED 


A  COLD, 


A  POPULAR  ESSAY 

ON    THE    DISORDER    FAMILIARLY    TERMED 

A    COLD: 

IN    WHiCH 

The  Means  of  obviating"  the  various  Causes  are  explained 
in  a  Manner  familiar  to  the  meanest  capacity; 

■\VITH 

A    COLLECTION    OF    APPROVED    RECEIPTS,    AND    OBSES- 
VATIONS   ON   THE   MOST   POPULAR  REMEDIES; 

PRINCIPALLY    DESIGNED 

For  the  Use  of  Families. 

BY  E.  L.  WHITE,  SURGEON,  Istc 

"  Les  rhumes  emportent  plus  de  malades  que  la  pestev" 

Colds  are  morfi  destniptivp  than  the  plague.  • 


TO    ViTHICH    ARE    ADDED, 

ANNOTATIONS, 

EXPLANATORY    AND    PRACTICAL: 

E,xhibiting-  a  New  Theory  on  the  Action  of  many  of  the 
predisposing-  and  exciting  Causes  of  Catarrh,  with  ori- 
ginal and  approved  Receipts  for  the  Cure  of  that  Dis- 
order in  the  United  States. 

BY  J,  STUART.  M  D.,  i:fc. 


PHILADELPHIA, 

rsiNTED  FOR  BRADFORD  iSf  INSKEEP,  N.  G.  DUFIEFi 

AND  ALSOP,   BRANNAN,  kS"  ALSOP, 

BY    T.    AND    G.    PALMER. 

1808. 


T>istrict  of  Pennsylvania,  to  wit :  Be  it  remembered,  that 

^ ^    on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  January,  in  the  thirty-se- 

(L.  S.)  cond  year  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States 

■ '    of  America,  A.  D.  1808,  N.  G.  Dufief,  of  the  said 

district,  hath  deposited  in  this  office  the  title  of  a  book,  ihe 
right  whereof  he  claims  as^  proprietor,  in  the  words  following, 
to  wit : 

"  A  Popular  Essay  on  the  disorder  familiarly  termed  a 
Cold :  in  which  the  means  of  obviating  the  -various  causes  are 
explained  iu  a  manner  familiar  to  the  meanest  capacity ;  with 
a  collection  of  approved  receipts,  and  observations  on  the  most 
popular  remedies ;  principally  designed  for  the  use  of  families. 
By  E.  L.  White,  surgeon,  &c. 

*♦  Les  rhumes  emportent  plus  de  mdades  que  la  peste."* 
Colds  are  more  destructive  than  the  plague. 
To  which  are  added,  Annotations,  explanatory  and  practical : 
exhibiting  a  new  theory  on  the  action  of  many  of  the  predis- 
posing and  exciting  causes  of  catarrh,  with  original  and  ap- 
proved receipts  for  the  cure  of  that  disorder  in  the  United 
States.     By  J.  Stuart,  M.  D.,  &c." 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  the  congress  of  the  United  States, 
intituled,  "  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  se- 
curing the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books  to  the  authors 
and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein  men- 
tioned;" and  also  to  the  act  entitled  "  An  act  supplementary 
to  an  act,  intituled,  *  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learn- 
ing, by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books  to  the 
authors  atid  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  there- 
in mentioned,'  and  extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts 
of  designing,  engraving,  and  etching  historical  and  other 
prints."  D  CALDWELL, 

Ckrh  of  the  Dktrict  of  Pennsylvania^ 


DEDICATORY  ADDRESS, 


TO 

THE  LEGISLATURE 

OF 

THE  STATE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

GENTLEMEN, 

ALTHOUGH  patronage  could  be 
solicited  of  none  with  better  prospects 
of  success,  than  of  those  who  have  ac- 
quired the  highest  confidence  and  es- 
teem, 4n  the  hearts  of  their  fellow-citi- 
zens, and  eminently  distinguished 
themselves  in  the  encouragement  of 
every  art  and  science  either  useful  to 


11 


man  or  profitable  to  society,  yet  have 
not  personal  considerations  had  the 
least  share  in  the  motives  prompting  to 
the  liberty  of  addressing  these  pages 
to  your  notice. 

In  the  mitigation  of  the  criminal 
code  of  this  state,  you  have  found  the 
means  to  prove  that  man  may  become 
useful  to  his  connections  and  profitable 
to  society,  even  after  he  shall  have  for- 
feited their  protection,  in  the  atrocity  of 
his  crimes.  With  a  virtuous  concern 
for  morals,  a  laudable  jealousy  for  the 
liberties  of  the  citizen,  and  an  anxious 
solicitude  for  the  encouragement  of 
industry,  you  have  held  forth  an  ex- 


ample  in  legislation  not  only  to  be 
emulated  by  our  sister  states,  but 
worthy  the  imitation  of  every  civilized 
nation  under  the  heavens.  Yet,  per- 
mit me  to  say,  that,  whilst  empiricism 
is  suffered  to  roam  with  impunity  in 
this  state,  a  most  important  part  of 
your  duty  as  legislators  still  remains 
to  be  performed. 

This  is  productive  of  real  evils,  and 
evils  of  the  greatest  magnitude ;  it  is 
to  this  state,  what  the  fabulous  mon- 
ster of  Lerna  is  said  to  have  been  to 
those  of  ancient  Greece  : 

Not  Hydra  stronger,  when  dismeraber'd,  rose 
Against  Aclmxna's^much-enduring  son. 


IV 

Grieving  to  find,  from  his  repeated  blows? 
The  foe  redoubled,  and  his  toil  begun  ; 
Nor  Colchis  teem'd,  nor  Echionian  Thebes 
A  feller  monster  from  their  bursting  glebes*. 

I  wovild  not,  however,  be  supposed 
to  solicit,  by  this  address,  that  which 
has  been  withheld  from  the  combined 
interests  of  the  faculty f.  Such  a  soli- 
citation  might  justly  merit  the  impu- 
tation of  presumption.  But,  firmly 
persuaded,  you  need  only  to  be  made 

*  Non  Hydra  secto  corpore  firmior 
Vinci  dolentem  crevit  in  Herculem, 
Monstrumve  submisere  Colcbi 
Majus,  Echioniaeve  Thebs. 

Hor,  Carm.  lib.  4.  ode  4. 

t  Vide  .the  petition  of  the  faculty  to  the  last  ses- 
sion of  the  legislature,  and  its  fate. 


acquainted  with  an  abuse  as  an  in- 
ducement to  apply  an  appropriate  re- 
medy, I  presume  no  farther  than  to 
call  to  your  notice  a  few  of  the  evils 
arising  from  empiricism,  and  then  to 
leave  to  your  own  consideration  and 
reflection,  whether  or  not  they  may  be 
sufficiently  important  to  demand  your 
attention. 

Is  education  of  any  importance  to 
government,  the  legislature  of  this 
state  are  certainly  .the  guardians  of  it. 
You,  gentlemen,  are  the  legitimate 
guardians  of  this  university,  the 
medical  department  of  which,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  present  professors, 
a  2. 


VI 

is  already  the  envy,  and  promises,  ere 
long,  to  become  the  rival  of  the  most 
celebrated  seminaries  in  the  world. 
But  what  protection,  or  what  encou- 
ragement does  it  receive  at  your, 
hands,  if,  by  an  omission  in  legisla- 
tion, those  educated  therein  shall  be 
degraded  to  hold  the  same  rank,  in 
the  public  estimation,  with  the  most 
illiterate  and  mercenary  impostor! 
What  inducement  is  held  forth  to  the 
wishes  of  the  tender  parent,  or  the 
guardian  ambitious  for  the  future 
welfare  of  his  son  or  ward,  to  see  him 
possessed  of  a  liberal  education  in  the 
science  of  medicine,  whilst  he  is  daily 
a  witness  to  the  toleration  and  ca- 
resses of  the  most  unprincipled  and 


Vll 


ignorant  pretenders ;  to  tlie  degrada- 
tion of  the  profession,  and,  in  many- 
instances,  even  to  the  supplanting  of 
those  who  have  been  formed  by  every 
advantage  to  be  derived  from  the  in- 
struction of  the  best  preceptors  and 
the  accumulated  knowledge  of  ages ; 
who  have  studied  for  years  with  un- 
remitted labour;  who  have  sacrificed 
health,  and  even  expended  fortunes, 
to  qualify  themselves  for  the  practice 
of  a  profession,  which,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  all,  except  in  that  of  the  laws  of 
this  state,  is  deemed  the  most  liberal, 
and  to  which  the  empiric  can  have 
no  farther  pretensions  than  those  of 
an    unprincipled    character,     callous 


VIU 

feelings,  a  mercenary  heart,  and  an 
unbhishing  effrontery. 

^  It  is  not  the  university,  it  is  not  the 
FACULTY  of  this  State  who  are  the  only 
sufferers ;  the  interests  and  the  welfare 
of  the  COMMUNITY  AT  LARGE  are 
equally  concerned  in  arresting  the 
desolating  progress  of  empiricism. 
Under  our  present  laws,  the  most 
ignorant  and  contemptible  wretch  in 
existence,  whom  indolence,  or  a  want 
of  knowledge  in  his  trade  or  pro- 
fession, shall  have  rendered  inade- 
quate to  gaining  a  pittance  in  ano- 
ther state,  hurries  to  this ;  and,  hy  as- 
suming a  title  ^  advertising  his  infalli^ 


IX 


Ifte  nostrums^  or  by  subscribing  to  half' 
a  dozen  publications^  and  there  affixing 
the  initial  letters  o/"  doctor  of  medi- 
cine* to  his  name^  immediately  be- 
comes a  inan  of  consequence,  and  finds 
no  more  difficulty  in  preying  upon  the 
health  and  lives  of  your  constituents, 
than  remorse  in  preying  upon  their 
fortunes. 

Our  author  informs  us,  his  parti- 
cular situation  had  supplied  him  with 
numerous  opportunities  of  witnessing 
the  destructive  progress  of  these 
traders    in    sciencef.        It    is    much 

*  M.  D. 

t  Vide  page  196  of  this  work. 


regretted,  that  similar  opportunities 
should  have  exhibited  to  the  editor 
so  many  instances  of  unconscionable 
extortion,  so  many  objects  of  decrepi- 
tude and  lingering  disease,  arid,  I  may 
confidently  add,  so  many  cases  of 
UNTIMELY  DEATH  from  the  samc  cause 
in  this,  otherwise,  one  of  the  best  re- 
gulated cities  in  the  universe. 

The  subordinate  and  labouring 
classes  of  the  community  are  those 
peculiarly  subject  to  the  impositions 
and  knavery  of  these  pretenders. 
Deprived,  for  the  most  part,  by  the 
nature  of  their  useful  occupations, 
from  acquiring  sufficient  information 


XI 

for  the  direction  of  their  choice  of 
medical  assistance,  they  easily  become 
a  prey  to  the  vain  boastings  and  empty 
promises  of  every  impostor,  who  has 
the  effrontery  to  commend  his  patent 
POISONS*,  or  to  publish  his  own  in- 
fallibility. But  what  is  the  issue? 
Not  suspecting  the  guile  which  lies 
concealed  under  a  specious  cloak  of 
humanity,  by  the  use  of  a  few  inert 
simples,  or  that  of  some  more  power- 
ful drugs,  given  at  a  dangerous  ran- 

*  Almost  every  thing  that  has  been  said  of  empi- 
ricism is  equally  applicable  to  the  vending  of  patent 
medicines,  and,  consequently,  the  latter  should  be 
held  in  equal  detestation  with  the  former. 


Xll 


dom,  without  the  least  knowledge  or 
regard  to  the  state  of  the  system,  the 
patient  is  amused  and  flattered  with 
prospects  of  certain  recovery,  until 
the  golden  opportunity  of  obtaining 
relief  is  past  to  return  no  more.  Fi- 
nally, plunged  into  despair,  exhausted 
by  poverty,  and  a  victim  to  a  disease 
eminently  curable  in  the  beginnings 
or  to  the  improper  treatment  of  a  pan- 
der of  Iniquity,  he  falls  into  the  arms 
of  Death,  his  deliverer,  leaving  the 
disconsolate  partner  of  his  iormer 
happy  days  widowed  and  helpless, 
With  a  numerous  family  of  children 
to  provide  for ;  but  who,  alas !  from  a 


XUl 

merciless  demand  of  exorbitant  fees, 
is  soon  to  be  reduced  to  starvation,  or 
to  the  only  and  mortifying  alternative 
of  becoming  a  charge  to  the  commu- 
nity. 

May  not  these  unprotected  unfor- 
tunates exclaim,  in  the  emphatic  lan- 
guage of  scripture,  "  we  have  asked, 
for  bread  and  ye  have  given  us  a 
stone !"  Instead  of  a  sympathizing 
friend,  whose  office  it  were  to 

minister  to  the  mind  diseased; 


Pluck  from  the  memory  a  rooted  sorrow, 
And,  with  some  sweet  oblivious  antidote, 
Cleanse  the  stuff 'd  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff 
Which  weighs  upon  the  heart, 

b 


XIV 


ye  have  given  us  the  most  cruel  and 
remorseless  enemy ;  instead  of  a  be- 
nefactor and  the  charitable  physician, 
ye  have  sent  us  a  robber  and  an  un- 
principled assassin. 

Long  as  I  have  intruded,  gentle- 
men, upon  your  time  and  patience, 
these  observations  present  you  only 
with  a  few  outlines  of  the  evil  under 
consideration.  But,  however  unfi- 
nished the  portrait,  it  is  certainly  a 
faithful  one,  and  that  it  may  prove  a 
likeness  suificiently  striking  to  render 
the  prototype  of  too  short  duration  to 
require  a  completion  of  the  picture,  is 


XV 

somewhat  the  expectation,  and  most 
assuredly  the  sincere  wish  of 
Your  most  respectful 

And  very  humble  servant, 

J.  Stuart. 
Philadelphia^  Feb,  4^/z, 
1808. 


PREFACE. 


There  is  no  work  which  less  re- 
quires the  aid  of  a  preface  than  one, 
the  object  of  which,  evidently,  is  pub- 
lic utility,  and  the  general  welfare  of 
mankind.  The  author  of  the  present 
essay,  however,  is  unwilling  to  let  it 
pass  through  his  hands  without  oflFer- 
ing  a  few  words  in  explanation  of  the 
motives  which  induced  him  to  employ 
his  pen  on  a  subject  which  constitutes 
a  part  of  each  of  the  numerous  sys- 
b  2 


xvni 


terns  of  domestic  medicine  already  in 
the  possession  of  the  non-medical 
world. 

The  number  of  popular  works  of 
this  description  has  lately,  it  is  true, 
been  much  increased  by  the  addition 
of  several  valuable  publications  ;  yet 
the  author  ventures  to  assert,  that 
there  is  none  in  which  the  complaint 
which  forms  the  subject  of  the  follow- 
ing pages  is  satisfactorily  treated  of. 
In  a  work,  indeed,  the  object  of  which 
is  to  present,  within  the  compass  of  a 
volume,  a  general  outhne  of  the  heal- 
ing art,  it  is  impossible  that  each  in- 
dividual disease  can  be  given  at  any 


XIX 

length,  and  with  a  due  degree  of  per- 
spicviity;  more  particularly  those 
which  are  commonly  regarded  as  least 
important. 

Scarcely  is  there  an  individual  in 
the  British  dominions,  who  has  not 
an  interest  in  the  disorder  commonly 
termed  "  a  cold  f'  in  the  language  of 
nosologists,  catarrh.  Almost  every 
one  is  occasionally  affected  with  it ;  to 
thousands  it  has  proved  the  bane  of 
health :  and  it  is  melancholy  to  relkct, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  indisputa- 
bly true,  that  this  complaint  is  daily 
gaining  ground,  both  by  the  increas- 


XX 


ing  frequency  of  its  occurrence,  and 
by  its  being  oftener  followed  by  cala- 
mitous consequences.  Errors  in  the 
conduct  of  individuals,  sometimes  the 
effect  of  ignorance,  more  generally, 
however,  of  folly,  usually  give  rise  to 
its  production,  and  the  common  do- 
mestic mode  of  treatment,  influenced 
by  mistaken  notions  of  its  origin,  tends 
to  render  it  inveterate.  A  simple  cold 
is  the  common  fore-runner  of  the  most 
dreadful  diseases  incident  to  human 
nature,  and  its  importance  cannot  be 
too  strongly  impressed  upon  the 
minds  of  those  who  are  ignorant  of 
ixiedicin^. 


XXI 


The  object  of  the  author,  therefore, 
has  been,  to  afford  to  the  unprofes- 
sional reader  a  general  yet  clear  view 
of  the  nature  of  this  insidious  com- 
plaint ;  to  point  oat  to  him  the  various 
causes  by  which  it  is  liable  to  be  in- 
duced ;  and  to  put  him  in  possession 
of  rational  principles,  by  which  his 
conduct  may  be  directed  with  a  view 
to  its  prevention  and  removal. 

The  work,  if  accidentally  perused 
by  medical  men,  will  be  found  to  have 
only  few  pretensions  to  originality ; 
to  the  class  of  readers,  however,  for 
the  eye  of  whom  it  is  designed,  it  will 
not  be  the  less  useful. 


XXll 

The  author  has  only  to  observe, 
that  the  treatment  he  has  ventured  to 
recommend  (though  m  some  respects 
novel)  has  had  the  sanction  of  much 
experience.  The  observations  on 
some  of  the  most  popular  remedies, 
it  is  hoped,  will  not  be  found  an  un- 
acceptable addition. 


CONTENTS, 


fiage 
Preliminary     observations,     comprising 
the  history  of  the  disease  and  its  various  con- 
sequences, and  the  division  of  the  work  1 

Section  I. 

Predisposing  causes  -  25 

1st.  Original  pecuHarity  of  constitution  ibid. 

2d.  An  acquired  irritability  of  the  pulmonary 

system  -  -  33 

3d.  A  morbid  delicacy  of  frame,  induced  ei- 
ther by  enervating  indulgence,  or  by  de- 
bilitating occupations  -  38 

Section  II. 

Exciting  causes  -  41 

1st.  Alternations  of  temperature  in  the  at- 
mosphere -  -  ibid. 


XXIV 

2d.  The  application  of  chemical  or  me- 
chanical STIMULI  to  the  mucous  mem- 
brane which  lines  the  air  passages  103 

3d.    The   application  of  moisture  to  the 

whole  or  part  of  the  body               -  113 

4th.  Certain  intemperaries  of  the  atmos- 
phere, independent  of  its  sensible  qualities  117 
Temperature,  diet,  and  medicine  135 

I.  Temperature             -                     -  ibid. 

II.  Diet                  -                      -  139 

III.  Medicine  -  -  141 
Laxatives  -  146 
External  use  of  cold  air  -  150 
Cold  applied  internally  to  the  stomach  1 5 1 
Nauseating  doses  of  emetic  tartar  153 
Digitalis  -  -  isY 
Hemlock  and  ether  inhaled  159 
Acetum  scillse  and  gum  ammoniac  ibid. 
Demulcents  and  opiates  -  161 
Sternutatories  -  168 
Sialagogues  -  -  169 
Pellitory  of  Spain  -  ibid. 
Nitre  -  -  170 
Detergent  gargles            n   -  171 

Remarks  on  some  of  the  most  popular 

remedies             -                        -  175 


XXV 


I.  Inhaling  vapour  of  hot  water 

175 

II.  Steammg  the  head 

179 

III.  Pedehivium 

180 

IV.  Inspiration  of  artificial  air 

181 

V.  Opium  and  paregoric  elixir 

182 

VI.  Emetics 

184 

VII.  James'  powder 

180 

VIII.  Patent  medicines 

189 

Perrin's  balsam  of  lung-wort 

ibid. 

Allen's  balsam  of  liquorice 

ibid. 

Balsam  of  honey 

190 

Godbould's  vegetable  balsam 

ibid. 

Lucas'  pure  drops  of  life 

191 

Madden's  vegetable  essence 

ibid. 

Solomon's  cordial  balm  of  Gilead 

ibid. 

Balsam  of  horehound 

192 

Essence  of  ditto 

193 

Essence  of  coltsfoot 

ibid. 

Balsam  of  Tolu 

ibid. 

IX.  Pectoral  lozenges 

201 

Directions  to  make  them 

ibid. 

X.  Indigenous  simples 

204 

Mallow,  horehound,  and  coltsfoot 

205 

XXVi 


EDITOR'S  NOTES. 

1 .  Extensive  dominion  of  catarrh  209 

2.  Loss  of  appetite             -                     -  ibid. 

3.  Air  of  manufactories  ameliorated  21© 

4.  Irregulai'ity  of  animal  heat  accounted  for  ibid. 

5.  Increased  action  accounted  for  211 

6.  Action  of  heat             -                    -  ibid. 

7.  Action  of  cold                      -  212 

8.  Unity  of  disease             -                 -  ibid. 

9 .  Comparative  scale  of  the  relative  strength  of 
the  lungs  and  the  skm                      -  2 1*3 

10.  Caution             -                     -  ibid. 

1 1.  Drinking  cold  water                      -  214 

12.  Hysteria  and  atonic  gout  215 

13.  Of  flannels  worn  next  the  skin  ibid. 

14.  Absorption  of  perspiration             -  218 

15.  16.  Of  flannels  worn  next  the  skin  2 1 9 

17.  Precaution                  -                     -  220 

1 8 .  Of  the  decomposition  of  water  by  animals  22 1 

19.  Of  the  action  of  oxygen :  a  new  theory  222 

20.  Catarrh  (or  cold)  by  change  of  atmosphere  24;7 

2 1 .  Action  of  musk  and  of  the  fumes  of  the 
muriatic  acid  accounted  for             -  229 

22.  Uf  moisture                     -                      -  230 


J 


XXVII 

2o.  Decomposition  of  sea-salt:  a  new  theory      i23l 

24.  The  operation  of  cold                     -  233 

25.  Rationalia  of  the  two  plans  of  treatment  234 

26.  Theory  of  external  cold                 •  236 

27.  The  effects  of  cold  explained  237 

28.  Of  blood-letting  in  colds                 -  238 

29.  Of  the  use  of  calomel             -               -  239 
,  30.  Of  the  nauseating  plan                 -  ibid. 

31.  Of  cold  drinks               -                      -  240 

32.  Of  full  vomiting                      -  241 
S3.  Nauseating  plan  repudiated              -  242 

34.  Digitalis  and  the  nitric  lac  243 

35.  Rationalia  of  the  application  of  blisters  to 

the  back             -                     -  244 

36.  Of  blood-letting             -                         -  245 

37.  Of  Seneka  snake-root             -  246 

38.  Ofpedeluvium                 -                 -  247 

39.  Of  opiates           >                  *  ibid. 


AN 


ESSAY,  &c. 


Of  all  the  diseases  incident  to  the  inha- 
bitants of  this  variable  climate,  there  is 
none  so  frequent  in  its  occurrence, — none 
which  excites  so  little  attention, — and  none, 
perhaps,  which,  when  neglected,  is  so  often 
followed  by  fatal  consequences,  as  that 
commonly  known  under  the  name  of  cold^ 
or  cough.  Its  familiarity,  and  the  decep- 
tive mildness  of  its  symptoms,  usually  ren- 
der it  so  little  regarded  by  the  patient,  that 


he  is  seldom  willing  to  sacrifice  the  various 
concerns  of  business  or  pleasure,  for  the 
sake  of  an  indisposition  which  he  considers 
so  trivial;  and,  too  surely,  to  this  disre- 
gard may  be  ascribed  the  origin  of  the  ma- 
jority of  the  numerous  train  of  diseases  to 
v\^hich  we  are  subject.  It  is  the  rock  upon 
w^hich  the  health  and  lives  of  thousands 
have  been  wrecked. 

How  common  is  it,  in  reply  to  the  in- 
quiries of  health,  to  hear  persons  say, — they 
have  only  a  cold;  it  will  soon  go  off;  they 
are  very  subject  to  cold ;  hut  they  never 
feel  ill  effects  from  it;  it  always  goes  off  as 
it  comes,  Sec. !  and  yet,  if  to  these  very  peo- 
ple, who  thus  carelessly  commit  the  pre- 
servation of  their  health  to  chance,  you  urge 
-the  impropriety  and  danger  of  their  inat^ 


3 

tention,  they  will  readily  acknowledge  to 
you,  that  *^  no  complaint  is  worse  than  a 
cold."  And,  perhaps,  in  confirmation  of 
the  truth  of  this  observ^ation,  will  even  relate 
to  you  some  fatal  instance  of  its  truth,  that 
may  have  recently  occurred  within  the 
immediate  circle  of  their  acquaintance :  for, 
unhappily,  the  melancholy  consequences  of 
this  disorder  are,  in  our  island  at  least,  too 
frequently  the  subject  of  observation,  to 
admit  of  ignorance  being  pleaded  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  neglecting  the  means  that  are  ne- 
cessary for  its  prevention  and  removal  (1)*. 

Thus  it  is,  that  hundreds  daily  run  into 
danger  wdth  their  eyes  open,  and  ultimately 
•fell  sacrifices  to  their  imprudence. 

*  The  figures  witrtin  parentheses  refer  to  the 
notes  by  the  editor,  which  are  to  be  found  at  the  end 
of  the  Yokime. 


4 

If  we  look  for  the  origin  of  this  neglect, 
and  of  the  distress  to  which  it  subjects  the 
human  frame,  we  shall  find  it  to  proceed, 
principally,  from  two  sources  :— one  of 
these  is  a  too  blind  reliance  on  the  curative 
power  of  what  is  commonly  understood  by 
the  term  Nature. 

There  is  implanted  in  the  animal  frame 
a  certain  tutelary  or  preserving  power, 
which,  as  it  were,  presides  over  its  eco- 
nomy, repels  the  attacks  of  injury,  and 
guards  it  from  the  dangers  with  w^hich  it  is 
incessantly  surrounded.  The  operation  of 
this  principle  is  powerful  and  well  marked ; 
but  its  precise  nature  has  hitherto,  and  pro- 
bably ever  will,  remain  concealed  behind 
the  veil  that  screens,  from  human  eye,  the 
mysteries  of  the  creation.     It  has  excited 


the  attention  of  philosophers  from  the  ear- 
liest ages,  and  they  have  applied  to  it  vari- 
ous names,  expressive  of  the  extent  of  its 
agency*.  The  unlettered,  also,  have  no 
less  observed  its  effects  ;  and,  accustomed 
to  ascribe  effects  to  causes  only  which  are 
familiar,  and  within  their  own  observation, 
they  either  imagine  it  to  be  the  immediate 
interference  of  a  superior  power ;  or,  sup- 
posing it  a  part  of  that  extensive  principle 
which  preserves  the  harmony  of  the  whole 
creation,  they  call  it  Nature,  and  too  often 
superstitiously  leave  to  its  influence  the 
cure  of  complaints,  where  the  judicious 
hand  of  art  alone  is  adequate  to  their  re- 
moval. 

*  Afx^)  ixvroKpxTsix'j  vis  naiuvtz  mcdicatrix. 
A   2 


But,  by  far,  its  most  frequent  cause  is 
indolence,  on  the  one  hand,  or,  on  the 
other,  inattention  produced  by  the  constant 
routine  of  the  busy  occupations  of  life  :  or, 
as  it  is  commonly  expressed  by  the  sufferer 
himself,  want  of  time  to  attend  to  one^s 
oxvn  feelings.  How  many  thousands  are 
there,  who,  deeply  immersed  in  dissipation, 
or  wholly  occupied  in  the  acquirement  of 
wealth,  daily  feel  themselves  unwell,  and 
pained  by  their  exertions ;  yet,  day  afterday, 
neglect  the  means  of  assistance  until  the 
mischief  spreads,  and,  in  the  end,  becomes 
irremediable  ! 

It  is  the  persuasion  that  much  may  be 
done  towards  preventing  many  of  these 
dreadful  ills,  by  a  timely  attention  to  this, 
their  fertile  source,  that  has  induced  me  to 


offer  to  the  world  the  following  pages ; 
in  which  it  is  my  intention,  after  having 
pointed  out  the  danger  of  depending  too 
much  upon  the  fatal  expectation  of  cold 
going  off  spontaneously^  to  make  the  means 
of  obviating  the  various  causes  which  give 
rise  to  this  destructive  complaint  more  ge- 
nerally known  and  better  understood,  by 
society  at  large ;  and,  as  its  treatment 
almost  exclusively  falls  within  the  province 
of  domestic  medicine,  to  lay  down  rules, 
familiar  to  every  capacity,  for  preventing 
its  fatal  effects.  And  it  is  my  ardent  hope 
that  these  endeavours  ^^ill  not  wholly  fail 
in  the  promotion  of  that  most  desirable 
of  all  objects,  the  preservation  of  health ; 
without  which  "  wealth,  honours,  and  every 
other  consideration,  is  insipid  and  even  irk- 
some," 


8 

I  would  not  be  understood  to  imply,  that 
eoldy  or  catarrh,  is  uniformly  attended  with 
danger.  On  the  contrary,  experience  has 
convinced  every  one,  that  in  the  generality 
of  instances,  considering  how  frequently  it 
occurs,  it  is  perfectly  innocent,  and  usually 
terminates  in  the  course  of  a  few  days, 
either  by  an  increased  expectoration,  or  a 
spontaneous  perspiration.  It  is  only  when 
aggravated,  or  rendered  extremely  frequent 
in  its  return,  by  neglect  or  imprudence, 
that  it  swells  into  importance,  and,  in  the 
end,  becomes  a  malady  sufficiently  formida- 
ble to  combat  and  defeat  the  skill  of  the 
most  experienced  physician. 

There  are  two  periods  of  life  at  which  the 
bad  effects  of  catarrh  are  most  to  be  appre- 
hended :  these  are, /r^^,  the  advanced  state 


y  of  youth,  or  the  term  comprehended  be- 
tween the  fifteenth  and  twenty- sixth  year ; 
secondly,  the  decline  of  life :  and  a  long 
list  of  dreadful  maladies  might  be  enume- 
rated, to  which  it  occasionally  gives  rise.  I 
wish,  however,  to  confine  the  attention  of 
the  reader  to  three  or  four,  which  are  its 
most  frequent  consequences :  namely,  in 
the  young,  pulmonary  consumption,  and 
pneumonia,  or  inflammation  of  the  lungs;  in 
the  advanced  in  years,  habitual  cough^  and 
de Auctions  from  the  lungs  ;  or  that  disease 
called  chronic  catarrh,  or  pituitous  asthma, 

I  believe  I  speak  within  compass,  when 
I  affirm,  that  at  least  eight  out  of  every 
twelve  cases  of  consumption,  occurring 
in  this   country,   have    their    foundations 


10 

laid  in  neglected  cold*.  The  original  seeds 
of  the  disease,  it  is  true,  have  been  pre- 
viously sown  in  the  constitution ;  but 
without  being  called  into  life  and  action  by 
this  exciting  cause,  they  would,  it  is 
more  than  probable,  in  the  generality  of 
instances,  have  for  ever  lain  dormant. . 

A  person,  whose  pulmonary  system  is^ 
more  than  usually  irritable,  becomes  the 
subject  of  a  severe  cold.  He  has  often  be- 
fore been  similarly  affected ;  and,  expecting 
it  to  go  off  spontaneously,  as  usual,  pur- 

*  Numerous  authorities  might  be  adduced  in  sup- 
port of  this  assertion,  the  truth  of  which,  indeed,  is 
universally  admitted.  I  will  content  myself  with  re- 
ferring the  reader  to  the  observations  of  Dr.  Hay- 
garth,  vol.  Ixiv  and  Ixv  of  the  Philosophical  Trans- 
actions f  and  of  Dr.  Willan,  in  his  Reports  of  the 


11 

'Sues  his  various  avocations,  and  takes  no 
precautions  for  its  removal ;  and  his  ex- 
pectations soon  appear  about  to  be  realized  ; 
the  violence  of  the  cough,  and  all  the 
unpleasant  concomitant  symptoms  subside, 
and  nothing  but  a  slight  tickling,  at  the 
upper  part  of  the  throat,  occasionally  giving 
rise  to  a  gentle  concussion  of  the  thorax, 
hardly  amounting  to  a  cough,  remains, 
and  of  which  he  is  himself  scarcely  sensi- 
ble, although  striking,  by  its  peculiarity,  to 
the  observation  of  others.  Light,  however, 
as  are  his  feelings,  the  mischief  is  now 
generally  irreparable ;  and  the  unfortunate 
sufferer  is  marked  a  victim  to  the  disease, 


Diseases  of  London.  Vide  fi.  86. — What  is  said  of 
Chester  and  London  may,  with  little  limitation,  be 
^applied  to  other  places. 


12 

before  he  is  even  conscious  of  the  approach 
of  danger.  The  uneasy  sensation  at  the 
larynx  becomes  more  teazing,  and  at 
length  excites  a  short  intermitting  cough, 
of  a  peculiarly  hollow,  hoarse  sound*.  This 

*  Much  has  been  said  on  the  means  by  which  a 
cough,  truly  phthisical,  may  be  distinguished  from. 
that  which  accompanies  catarrh,  when  it  is  long  pro- 
tracted ;  or,  in  other  words,  decide  the  time  at  which 
the  disease  is  catarrh^  and  in  which  actual  consumfi- 
tion.  Some  have  thought  that  they  can  readily  distin- 
guish a  consumptive  cough  from  a  catarrhal,  merely 
by  the  sound,  which  is  peculiarly  hoarse  and  hollow. 
Its  being  usually  accompanied  with  vomiting  is  con- 
sidered, by  Morton,  as  a  striking  and  diagnostic  mark  J 
and  Burserius  insists  upon  the  matter  expectorated 
by  early  phthisical  cough  being  characteristic  in  its 
appearance,  and  consisting  of  a  fluid  resembling  water 
in  which  soap  has  been  dissolved.  These,  however,  are 
not  uniformly  present,  and,  though  often  well  marked, 


13 


is  generally,  at  first,  falsely  ascribed  to  some 
fresh  attack  of  cold.     It  soon,  however,  be- 

are  liable  to 'deceive  ;  the  only  sure  criterion  being 
the  expectoration  becoming  purulent,  while  the  fever 
assumes  the  hectic  form,  characterized  by  being  that 
oi  di  quotidian  remittent;  the  chief  exacerbation  of 
which  commences  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
goes  on  increasing  till  after  midnight,  is  attended  with 
a  circumscribed  flush  upon  the  cheek,  excessive  thirst, 
and  a  sense  of  burning  heat  in  the  palms  of  the  hands 
and  soles  of  the  feet,  and  terminates,  as  morning  ad- 
vances, with  a  profuse  sweat. 

Dr.Heberden  observes,  that  most  coughs  n:iturally 
tend  to  pulmonary  phthisis ;  but  as  there  have  been 
many  examples  of  coughs,  apparently  consumptive, 
remaining  in  a  tolerable  state  for  twenty  years,  and 
which,  with  proper  care,  might  remain  so  to  the  end  of 
life,  it  is  impossible  to  prognosticate  the  event,  hov/- 
ever  strong  the  tendency  may  be,  without  being  able 
to  predict  also  what  will  be  the  patient's  manner  of 
B 


14 

comes  an  inseparable  companion,  and  in 
the  end  is  excited  by  every  thing  which 
tends  to  hurry  or  impede  the  breathing. 
It  is  generally  worst  in  the  evening,  du- 
ring the  night,  or  in  a  horizontal  posture, 
and  upon  awakening  from  a  sleep  of  some 
continuance;  it  is,  however,  as  yet,  un- 
attended with  fever ;  or  the  febrile  symp- 
toms are  so  slight  as  hardly  to  be  perceiv- 
ed. It  is  either  quite  dry,  or  accompanied 
with  an  expectoration  of  a  small  quantity 
of  a  thin  frothy  matter,  which  differs  from 
that  of  true  catarrh,  in  being  easily  diffu- 
sible in  other  fluids.  Sooner  or  later,  the 
general  health  becomes  impaired,  the  appe- 
tite is  lost,  the  nights  are  restless,  and  a 

living,  and  whether  he  will  always  escape  fresh  colds, 
&c.,  &c.  Fide  Heberden,  Comment,  de  JMorb.  Hist. 
et  Curat,  c.  92. 


15 

total   disinclination   takes   place   to   every 
kind  of  bodily  exertion. 

"  The  vigour  sinks,  the  habit  melts  away  ; 
The  cheerful,  pure,  and  animated  bloom 
Dies  from  the  face,  with  squalid  atrophy 
Devoured." 

At  length  the  fatal  hectic  makes  its 
appearance ;  the  expectoration  becomes 
purulent^  and  a  supervening  train  of  horrid 
symptoms  too  clearly  point  out  the  inevi- 
table approach  of  death,  to  every  one 
but  the  miserable  victim  himself-* ;  who, 

*  Strange  as  it  may  appear,  amidst  all  the  horrors 
of  this  situation,  the  patient's  hopes  seldom  abandon 
him,  and  generally  even  increase,  as  the  fatal  termina- 
tion advances.  This  illusion  is  not  confined  to  those 
who  are  ignorant  of  medicine;  "  I  have  seen,"  says 
Dessanet,  "  physicians  just  expiring  with  this  com- 


16 

under  the  influence  of  a  happy  illusion, 
is  amused  by  hope,  and  confident  of  re- 
covery, amidst  a  dreadful  complication  of 
distress  ;  and  often  dies  while  projecting 
schemes  of  future  interest  or  amusement*. 

plaint,  who  would  not  a,dmit  that  they  were  consump- 
tive." A  late  eminent  teacher  of  anatomy,  in  his  very 
last  lecture  (at  a  time  when  the  symptoms  of  con- 
firmed decline  were  too  obvious  to  be  mistaken  by 
the  youngest  of  his  pupils),  speaking  of  this  circum- 
stance whilst  describing  the  structure  of  the  lungs, 
observed  :  "  This  deceitful  persuasion  is  not  to  be 
v/ondered  at  in  those  who  have  not  studied  physic  j 
but  that  any  man  to  whom  frequent  observations  must 
have  made  every  fatal  symptom  so  familiar,  can  be 
blind  to  his  own  situation,  is  truly  wonderful."  He 
himself  died  of  phthisis  within  the  fortnight. 

*  There  are  certain  classes  of  people  who  appear 
to  be  exempted  from  the  ill  consequences  of  catarrh, 
as  far  as  relates  to  its  termination  in  consumption. 


17 

The  other  disease  which  I  have  men- 
tioned, as  occurring  more  particularly  in  the 
early  periods  of  life,  in  consequence  of 
aggravated  cold,  is  an  inflammation  of  the 
lungs,  produced  by  an  extension  of  the  in- 
flammatory affection  of  the  trachea  and 
bronchias.  When  this  occurs,  the  person, 
after  having  for  some  time  been  the  sub- 
ject of  cough,  attended  with  oppression 
and  sense  of  weight  referred  to  the  chest, 
with  more  or  less  difficulty  of  breathing, 

That  butchers  Rndjlshzvives  avQ  hardly  ever  known t© 
die  consumptive,  is  an  established  fact.  The  same 
has  been  observed  of  catgut-makers,  sailors  and 
luatermen,  stable-boys^  groo7ns,  and,  in  a  less  degree, 
gardeners,  and  certain  small  farmers  who  assist  in 
cultivating  their  own  lands.  Ail  these,  hov/ever, 
are  liable  to  colds  as  other  people.  Vide  Beddoes. 
Early  Signs^  iJ'c..,  of  ConsumpJioii , 
32 


18 

is  suddenly  seized  with  a  severe  pain  in  a 
particular  part  of  the  chest ;  his  respira- 
tion becomes  extremely  laborious  and 
painful,  and  an  acute  fever,  attended  with 
the  most  urgent  symptoms,  supervenes  :  a 
state  always  attended  with  the  utmost 
danger. 

People  advanced  beyond  the  middle  age 
are  extremely  subject  to  a  complaint, 
which,  when  once  established,  almost  in- 
variably becomes  their  inseparable  tormen- 
tor for  the  remainder  of  life.  It  is  cha- 
racterized by  the  following  combination  of 
symptoms :  a  habitual  cough,  coming 
on,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  form  of  pa^ 
roxysms  or  fits,  often  extremely  violent, 
and  occasionally  accompanied  with  severe 
pains  ia  the  head ;  a  copious  and  almost 


19 

continual  expectoration  of  a  white,  viscid, 
frothy  matter ;  oppression  at  the  chest,  and 
a  wheezing,  laborious  respiration.  These 
symptoms,  during  the  spring  and  summer 
months,  are  usually  considerably  alleviated ; 
but  every  succeeding  winter  brings  them  on 
with  redoubled  severity,  until  the  constitu- 
tion becomes  broken  :  the  patient  is  agi- 
tated and  fatigued ;  he  is  deprived  of  rest ; 
a  lurking  fever  preys  upon  his  vitals ;  his 
lungs  are  shaken,  and  their  action  impaired ; 
digestion,  and  all  the  other  functions  essen- 
tial to  life,  are  impeded;  and  at  length  he 
is  relieved,  by  friendly  Death,  from  a  state 
of  the  most  miserable  existence.  Ask  the 
majority  of  these  sufferers,  to  what  they 
ascribe  the  origin  of  their  maladies,  and  they 
will  uniformly  tell  you,  neglected  cold. 


20 

The  sensations  of  what  is  commonly 
called  having  a  cold  are,  in  this  climate,  so 
universally  well  known  as  hardly  to  need 
description.  There  are  very  few  but  must, 
more  or  less  frequently,  have  experienced 
some  or  all  of  the  following  symptoms : 
lassitude  or  weariness;  a  sense  of  chilli- 
ness  alternating  with  glows  of  heat  upon 
the  skin,  referred  more  particularly  to  the 
face  and  chest ;  stuffing  of  the  nose  :  more 
or  less  obtuse  pain  of  the  head ;  frequent 
sneezing ;  a  disagreeable  dryness  and  huski- 
ness  in  the  nostrils,  followed  by  the  dis- 
tillation of  a  thin  acrid  fluid  from  these, 
and  from  the  eyes,  which  are  red  and  sore ; 
and  cough,  together  with  hoarseness,  sore- 
ness of  the  trachea,  some  difficulty  of 
breathing,  loss  of  appetite,  sense  of  general 


21 

indisposition,  and  a  slight  degree  of  fe- 
ver (2). 

These  have  their  origin  in  an  inflamma- 
tory affection  of  the  delicate  mucous  mem- 
brane which  lines  the  passage  through 
which  the  air  passes  in  respiration ;  and 
they  vary  as  the  part  more  immediately 
affected  happens  to  be  the  nostrils^  the 
throaty  or  the  chest. 

When  the  disorder  chiefly  occupies  the 
nostrils  and  contiguous  cavities,  the  cough 
and  disposition  to  fever  are  only  slight ; 
the  prominent  symptoms  being  a  dull  pain, 
or  sense  of  uncommon  weight  in  the  fore- 
head, redness  and  turgescence  of  the  eyes, 
and  a  distressing  fulness  and  heat  in  the 
nostrils.      These  are  soon  followed  by  a 


22 

copious  excretion  of  mucous  fluid  from  the 
parts,  which  most  commonly  proves  a  so- 
lution of  the  complaint.     This  is  what  is 
commonly  understood  by  the  term  a  cold 
in  the  head^  and  is  the  most  simple  form  of 
the  complaint.     Sometimes  the  inflamma- 
tion is  nearly  confined  to  the  throat  (tra- 
chea^ larynx^  and  adjacent  parts) ;  in  this 
case  the  affection  of  the  head  is  inconsi- 
derable, but  the  cough  is  more  severe,  and 
commonly  attended  with  more  or  less  sore 
throat.    Frequently,  however,  it  extends  to 
the  ramifications  of  the  air- tube,  and  occu- 
pies the  greater  part  of  the  internal  surface 
of  the  bronchial  system ;  when  the  breath- 
ing becomes  laborious  and  wheezing,  the 
fever  is  often  considerable,  and  the  disorder 
assumes  its  most  severe  form. 


23 

Having  made  these  preliminary  observa- 
tions, I  shall  now  enumerate  the  various 
causes  by  which  colds  are  liable  to  be  pro- 
duced, and  afterwards  proceed  to  speak  of 
the  best  mode  of  treating  them. 

The  causes  of  disease  are  usually  divided 
into^^rst,  predisposing,  or  those  which  ren- 
der the  body  susceptible  of  its  attacks;  and, 
secondly,  exciting,  or  those  which,  when 
applied  to  the  body,  under  a  state  of  pre- 
disposition,  excite  disease  into  action. 

The  predisposing  causes  of  catarrh  are, 
1st,  original  peculiarity  of  constitution ; 
2dly,  an  acquired  morbid  irritability  of 
the  pulmonary  system ;  3dly,  a  morbid 
delicacy  of  frame,  induced  by  enervating 
indulgences,    or    weakening   occupations ; 


24 

or  occasional  and  accidental  debility.  Its 
exciting  causes  are,  1st,  alternations  of 
temperature ;  2dly,  the  application  of 
chemical  or  mechanical  stimuli  to  the  mu- 
cous membrane  of  the  air  passages ;  3dly, 
moisture  applied,  in  a  certain  way,  to  the 
surface  of  the  body ;  4thly,  occult  intem- 
peries  of  the  atmosphere.  These  it  will 
be  necessary  to  consider  separately. 


25 


I.— PREDISPOSING  CAUSES. 

1st. — Original  peculiarity  of  constitutio  «. 

Although  every  one  is,  more  or  less, 
liable  to  be  affected  with  catarrh,  yet  there 
are  some  whose  constitutions  render  them 
more  particularly  obnoxious  to  its  attacks. 

Owing  to  a  peculiarity  of  organization, 
or  of  the  physical  condition  and  composi- 
tion of  the  human  frame,  the  constitutions 
of  different  individuals  are  hardly  less  va- 
rious than  their  external  form  and  struc- 
ture, and  give  to  each  a  predisposition  to 
certain  diseases  in  preference  to  others. 
These  varieties  have  been  classed,  by  phy- 


26 

siologists,  under  four  heads,  from  an  ancient 
and  erroneous  theory,  called  temperaments^ 
namely,  the  sanguineous^  the  phlegmatic^ 
the  choleric,  and  the  melancholic. 

It  is  in  the  first  of  these  constitutions 
that  the  propensity  to  what,  in  common 
language,  is  termed  taking  cold  is  most 
observable.  The  sanguineous  tempera- 
ment is  characterized  by  the  following 
marks  :  a  fair,  rosy  complexion  ;  light  hair 
and  eyes ;  a  smooth,  soft  skin,  through 
which  the  large  blue  veins  are  usually  re- 
markably conspicuous,  often  assuming  a 
mottled  appearance,  in  consequence  of  its 
transparency,  which  allows  of  the  vessels 
being  seen  beneath  ;  remarkable  sensibility, 
irritability  of  frame  ;  and,  w^ith  regard  to 
the  mind,  gaiety,  volatility,  and,  generally, 


27 

uncommon  versatility  :  ideas  and  impres- 
sions changing  in  rapid  and  capricious  suc- 
cession. The  most  remarkable  instance  of 
extreme  susceptibility  of  catarrh,  that  has 
ever  come  under  my  own  observation,  oc- 
curred in  a  younglady,  in  whom  the  constitu- 
tion above  described  was  exquisitely  marked. 
So  excessively  irritable  was  her  nervous 
system,  as  even  to  render  her  existence  mi- 
serable :  the  shghtest  sudden  and  unexpect- 
ed  impression  upon  the  mind  or  senses 
being  sufficient  to  produce  an  agitation  of 
frame,  under  which  the  pulse  Vvould  in- 
crease in  frequency  often  to  110  beats  in 
the  minute,  and  the  whole  surface  of  the 
body  would  become  suffused  in  one  conti- 
nuous blush.  Every  inconsiderable  alter- 
nation in  the  temperature  occasioned  her 
to  become  the  subject  of  catarrh.     I  once 


28 

had  occasion  to  attend  her  for  some  local 
afFection,  which  required  the  apphcation  of 
cloths,  wetted  with  vinegar  and  water ;  the 
consequence  of  their  use  was  a  very  severe 
'  cough,  attended  with  urgent  symptoms  of 
pulmonary  disorder.  Upon  my  expressing 
some  surprise  at  this  extraordinary  suscep- 
tibility, she  assured  me,  that,  in  the  winter 
months,  she  seldom  plunged  her  hands 
into  cold  water,  after  having  been  heated  by 
a  warm  room,  without  experiencing  a  con- 
siderable rigour,  with  a  sense  of  oppression 
at  the  chest,  which,  upon  again  coming 
near  the  fire,  was  uniformly  followed  by 
sneezing  and  tickling  at  the  larynx.  A 
frequent  repetition  of  catarrh  at  length 
brought  into  action  a  tubercular  afFection  of 
the  kings,  which  terminated  her  existence 
by  a  rapid  decline,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two. 


29 

In  these  constitutions,  the  bad  efFects  of 
colds  are  more  especially  to  be  dreaded,  if 
there  exist,  at  the  same  time,  that  faiilt}^ 
conformation  of  the  thorax  termed  a  narrow 
chest.  This  peculiarity  is  occasioned  by 
the  breast-bone  being  pressed  too  much  in 
upon  the  lungs ;  and  the  shoulder  blades, 
in  consequence,  thrust  out  from  their  pro- 
per position,  and  made  to  assume,  in  some 
measure,  the  form  of  wings  :  hence  the 
chest  appears  flattened  or  depressed  in  front, 
whilst  its  sides  are  unnaturally  protruded^ 
When  this  mal- conformation  exists  in  an}' 
considerable  degree,  the  neck  usually  is, 
or  at  least  appears  to  be,  unnaturally  long 
and  slender. 


Combined   also    with    the    sanguineous 
temperament,  are  often  certain  character- 
G  2 


30 

istics  which  mark  a  disposition  to  the  dis- 
ease called  struma  or  scrofula.  These  are, 
large  eyes,  an  expanded  pupil,  swollen  eye- 
brows, a  peculiar  softness  of  the  hair,  thick 
nose,  tumid  upper  lip,  a  skin  unnaturally 
soft  and  yielding  to  the  feel,  sound  teeth, 
with  a  singular  degree  of  whiteness  and 
transparency^",  a  peculiarly  clubbed  appear- 
ance of  the  ends  of  the  fingers,  hollow  tem- 
ples, elevated  cheek-bones,  disposition 
either  to  incurvation  or  reflection  of  the 
nails.  In  these  constitutions  particularly, 
the  complaint  of  which  we  are  treating  can- 
not be  too  justly  dreaded,  or  too  carefully 
guarded  against ;  its  frequent  occurrence 
usually  proving  the  exciting  cause  to  that 
state  of  the  lungs  which  terminates  in  the 

*  Vid^  Simmons  on  Consumption. 


31 

most  deplorable  disease  incident  to  mankind, 
and  by  which  thousands  are  yearly  carried 
to  an  untimely  grave ;  namely,  scrofulom 
eonsumption. 

But  however  predisposed  to  disease  the 
constitution  may  be,  by  carefully  guarding 
against  the  causes  which  more  immediately 
produce  it,  its  dreaded  incursions  may  usu- 
ally be  prevented,  and  health  may  often  be 
preserved  to  old  age.  "  With  what  ease,'* 
observes  Dr.  Fothergill*,  **  would  many 
of  the  most  incurable  consumptions  have 
been  prevented,  or  cured,  at  their  first  com- 
mencement !  A  person,  whose  emaciated 
figure  strikes  you  with  horror,  his  forehead 
covered  with  drops  of  sweat,  his  cheeks 

*  See  Medical  Observations  and  Inquiries,  voLiv. 


32 

painted  with  livid  crimson,  his  eyes  sunk, 
all  the  littie  fat  which  raised  them  in  their 
orbits,  and  every  where  else,  being  wasted, 
his  pulse  quick  and  tremulous ;  his  nails 
bending  over  the  ends  of  his  fingers ;  the 
palms  of  his  hands  as  dry  as  they  are  pain- 
fully hot  to  the  touch  ;  his  breath  offensive, 
quick,  and  laborious  ;  his  cough  incessant, 
scarce  allowing  him  time  to  tell  you,  that 
some  months  ago  he  ^o^  a  cold;  but,  per- 
haps, he  knew  not  how  he  got  it ;  he  neg- 
lected it  for  this  very  reason,  and  neg- 
lected every  means  of  assistance,  till  the 
mischief  was  become  incurable,  and  scarce- 
ly left  a  hope  of  palliation.  You  see  mul- 
titudes of  such  objects  daily,  and  see  them 
with  a  mixture  of  anger  and  compassion: 
for  their  neglect  and  their  sufferings." 


33 


2d.  An  acquired  morbid  irritability  of  the 
pulmonary  system* 

It  may  be  regarded  as  an  established  law 
ill  the  animal  economy,  that  the  irritability 
of  a  part  shall  be  increased  in  proportion  to 
the  frequency  of  the  repetition  of  the  im- 
pressions of  stimuli.  This  is  very  remark- 
ably observable  with  regard  to  the  pulmo- 
nary system.  The  liability  of  the  bronchial 
membrane  to  be  affected  increases  with 
every  repetition  of  disease ;  one  irritation 
paves  the  way  for  another ;  and  every  dis- 
eased action  renders  the  parts  more  prone 
to  a  succeeding  one,  until,  in  time,  the  most 
trivial  cause  becomes  sufficient  to  produce 
the  morbid  effect.  Thus  one  cold  may  be 
justly  said  to  be  the  predisposing  cause  of 


34 

another ;  and  thus  it  is,  that  catarrh  ope- 
rates in  producing  more  formidable  dis- 
eases. An  excessive  susceptibility  is  cre- 
ated, every  fresh  attack  spreads  the  mis- 
chief v/ider,  the  more  minute  ramifications  of 
the  bronchise  become  affected,  and  at  length 
either  the  substance  of  the  lungs  puts  on 
that  peculiar  action  which  produces  tuber- 
cles, and  these,  inflamed  and  matured  by 
subsequent  attacks,  become  a  fatal  phthisis ; 
or  the  membrane  itself  assumes  that  distress- 
ing state  of  chronic  disease  we  have  already 
spoken  of  under  the  name  oi  chronic  catarrh, 
ov  pituitous  asthma. 

The  importance,  therefore,  of  avoiding 
the  exciting  causes  of  a  disease,  so  insidious 
in  its  nature,  cannot  be  too  strongly  insisted 
upon,  more  particularly  in  the  early  periods 


35 

of  life,  and  in  constitutions  peculiarly  ob- 
noxious to  its  attacks.  "  How  often  is  the 
meridian  and  close  of  life  obscured  by- 
clouds  of  misery,  from  inattention,  or  mis- 
management, in  the  helpless  period  of 
infancy  !" 

There  is  a  powerful  cause,  producing  a 
permanent  state  of  morbid  irritability  of 
the  mucous  membrane  of  the  air  passages, 
from  which,  however,  the  generality  of  in- 
dividuals are  exempt;  it  being,  fortunately, 
peculiar  to  certain  artificers.  This  is  the 
frequent  introduction  of  mechanical  sti- 
muli with  the  inspired  air.  The  air,  thus 
impregnated  with  extraneous  matter,  is  in- 
cessantly irritating  the  parts  through  which 
it  passes ;  in  consequence  of  which  they 
are  perpetually  the  subject  of  catai'rh,  and 
often  early  die  consumptive. 


36 

Of  the  artisans  whose  misfortune  it  is  to 
be  rendered  thus  peculiarly  obnoxious  to 
disease,  the  following  are  the  principal : 
needle-pointers*,  the  dressers  of  flax  and 
feathers,  stone-cutters,  millersf,  bakers, 
bricklayers'  labourers,  laboratory  men,  coal 

*  In  thtjifth  volume  of  Memoirs  of  the  Medical 
Society,  we  are  presented  with  a  very  interesting 
paper,  by  Dr.  Johnston,  in  which  he  informs  us,  that 
persons  employed  in  the  pointing  of  needles,  by  dry 
grinding  them,  are  quickly  affected  with  cough, 
purulent,  and,  occasionally,  bloody  expectoration, 
and  scarcely  ever  attain  the  age  of  forty  years. 

t  Millers  and  bakers,  although  from  the  nature  of 
their  employment  extremely  liable  to  coughs  and 
cold,  are  said  seldom  to  die  consumptive.  The  same 
has  been  observed  of  jafianners,  whose  work  is  car- 
ried on  in  an  atmosphere  of  resinous  vapour.— iB^rf- 
does  on  the  Causes,  ^c,  0/  Consumption. 


37 

heavers,  chimney-sweepers,  hair-dressers, 
workmen  in  the  warehouses  of  leather- 
sellers,  workers  in  plaster  of  Paris  and 
marble^,  those  employed  in  the  spinning 
of  silk,  cotton,  flax,  hemp,  &c.t,  lace  weav- 
ers, tailorsj. — Many  persons,  thus  en- 
gaged, struggle  with  a  constant,  hard, 
troublesome  cough,  with  oppression  at  the 
chest,  until  it  terminates  in  a  pulmonary 
disease,  which  proves  fatal  to  them. 

*  The  pulmonary  affection  incident  to  these  arti- 
ficers has,  in  France,  where  it  is  more  frequently 
observed,  obtained  the  name  of  the  maladic  de  gres. 

t  Vide  Statistical  Refiorts  for  Scotland. 

\  Scythe  grinders  are  said  to  be  particularly  dis- 
posed to  catarrh  and  consumption.^ — <Simtnons  on 
Consumption, 


38 


3d. — A  morbid  delicacy  of  frame,  induced 
either  by  enervating  indulgences,  or  by  debi- 
litating occupations. 

I  might  here  enumerate  all  the  various 
errors  of  conduct  and  habit,  which  conduce 
to  disease  in  general ;  for,  however  the 
body  is  debilitated,  it  becomes  more  prone 
to  the  reception  of  noxious  impressions, 
and,  in  consequence,  to  the  exciting  causes 
of  colds.  But  this  is  a  task  which  has  been 
already  ably  executed  by  Dr.  Beddoes ;  to 
whom  the  world  is  so  highly  indebted  for 
his  valuable  popular  Essays  on  Health. 

Those  which  are  more  especially  liable 
to  operate  in  producing  a  predisposition  to 
catarrh,  are,  a  too  sedentary  mode  of  life, 


39 

and  the  habituating  the  body  to  too  high 
degrees  of  temperature  ;  concerning  these, 
it  is  my  intention  to  offer  some  serious 
observations  in  a  subsequent  part  of  the 
work,  when  I  proceed  to  speak  on  the 
means  of  obviating  the  ill  effects  of  alter- 
nations of  temperature. 

There  is,  unfortunately,  however,  a  very 
considerable  part  of  mankind,  whose  par- 
ticular trades  or  occupations  tend  to  the 
production  of  a  weak  and  delicate  habit  of 
body,  which  renders  them  particularly  ob- 
noxious to  the  diseases  arising  from  cold. 

These  are  the  individuals  who,  from  the 
nature  of  their  employments^  are  either 
compelled  to  breathe  incessantly  the  impure 
air  of  large  towns,  and  debarred  from  exer- 


40 

cise,  or  whose  labours  are  carried  on  in 
close  and  heated  rooms.  All  these  are 
usually  excessively  susceptible  of  catarrh*. 

The  same  disposition  to  the  reception  of 
catarrh  ensues  from  any  occasional  and  ac- 
cidental exhaustion  of  the  powers,  either  of 
the  mind  or  body.  The  principal  sources 
of  this  are,  preceding  disease,  intemperance, 
fatigue,  and  inordinate  excitement  of  the 
passions. 

*  A  surgeon  of  London  (Mr.  Carlisle),  whose  op- 
portunities of  information  are  very  extensive,  relates 
of  the  gilders  in  this  city,  who  work  in  heated  rooms, 
that  "  six  out  of  seven  are  said  to  die  consumptive,  in 
their  apprenticeship."  On  this  subject,  vide  Beddoes 
on  Consumption  (Hygeia,  vol.  3),  and  Willanonthe 
Diseases  of  London  (3). 


41 


II.— EXCITING  CAUSES. 

1st, — Alternations   of  temperature   in  the 
atmosphere. 

Catarrhs  are  considered  almost  endemial 
to  Great  Britain,  and  their  great  frequency 
may  be  very  justly  attributed  to  the  pecu- 
liarity of  our  climate.  Our  atmosphere  is, 
perhaps,  more  variable  in  point  of  tempera- 
ture than  that  of  any  other  country.  "  We 
frequently  find  a  warm  summer's  day  suc- 
ceeded by  one  as  cold  and  keen  as  those  of 
February  or  March ;  and,  what  is  still 
worse,  even  in  the  same  day,  the  former 
part  is  sometimes  attended  with  soft  breez- 
es  from  the  south-west,  and  a  warm  relaxing 
D  2 


42 

atmosphere,  loaded  with  vapour ;  when,  on 
the  contrary,  the  afternoon  shall  be  accom- 
panied with  a  sharp,  dry,  biting  north-east, 
affecting  the  body  and  lungs  in  the  opposite 
extreme."  We  can  seldom  look  forward 
with  confidence  to  a  temperature  peculiar 
to  the  season.  The  commencement  of 
summer  often  assumes  the  severity  of  win- 
ter ;  and  the  spring  is  generally  ushered  in 
by  an  unnatural  and  sickly  warmth,  which 
only  tends  to  render  the  frame  more  sensi- 
ble to  the  rigour  of  an  approaching  tempes- 
tuous equinox. 

"  Scarce,  in  a  show'rle&s  day,  the  heavens  indulge 
Our  melting  clime,  except  the  baleful  east 
Withers  the  tender  spring,  and  surly  checks 
The  fancy  of  the  year.     Our  fathers  talked 
Of  summers^  balmy  airs,  and  skies  serene  ! 
Good  heaven  1  for  what  unexpiated  crimes 


43 

This  dreadful  change  I    The  brooding  elements^ 

Do  they,  your  powerful  ministers  of  wrath, 

Prepare  some  fierce,  exterminating  plague  ? 

Or  is  it  fix'd  in  the  decrees  above 

That  lofty  Albion  melt  into  the  main  ? 

Indulgent  Nature  I  O  dissolve  this  gloom ! 

Bind,  in  eternal  adamant,  the  winds 

That  drown  or  wither ;  give  the  genial  west 

To  breathe,  and  in  its  turn  the  north  ; 

And  may  once  more  the  circling  seasons  rule 

The  year,  nor  mix  in  every  monstrous  day/' 


These  severe  changes  in  the  weather 
are,  it  is  true,  the  most  unhappy  circum- 
stances attending  our  situation,  and  cannot 
fail  to  have  the  most  pernicious  effects 
upon  the  human  constitution  ;  but  injurious 
as  they  are  in  themselves,  their  morbid 
operation  is  but  too  frequently  aggravated 
by  the  improper  conduct  of  individuals, 


44 

who,  led  away  hy  fashion,  fatally  neglect  the 
means  which  are  necessary  to  guard  against 
their  influence. 

In  order  to  make  intelligible  to  the  reader 
the  manner  in  which  a  cold  is  produced, 
by  variations  of  temperature,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  premise  a  concise  view  of  the 
modern  theory  of  animal  heat,  and  of  the 
mode  in  which  external  temperature  acts 
upon  the  living  animal  frame. 

The  common  heat  of  the  human  body, 
in  health,  is  98°  of  Farenheit's  thermome- 
ter ;  and  one  of  the  most  wonderful  charac- 
teristics of  vitality  is  the  capacity  of  main- 
taining this  degree  under  every  variation  of 
external  temperature.  This  continual  re- 
production of  animal  heat  is  attributed,  by 


45 

modern  chemistry,  to  the  decomposition  of 
atmospheric  air  in  the  lungs,  during  respi- 
ration. 

The  aeriform  fluid  which  every  where 
invests  the  surface  of  the  globe,  and  which 
is  inspired  by  the  animal  kingdom,  is  a 
compound,  consisting  of  several  principles, 
the  chief  of  which  are  azot^  and  oxyg€n\^ 

*  Azot  (so  termed  because  it  is  unfit  for  the  sup- 
port of  life)  is  a  simple  elementary  substance,  not 
distinctly  perceptible  to  the  human  senses,  but  the 
reality  of  its  existence  is  known  by  its  compositions. 
Combined  with  caloric,  it  forms  what  is  termed  by 
chemists  azotic  gas  ;  and  of  this  compound  there 
exists  always,  in  the  atmosphere,  a  proportion  equal 
to  seventy  two  parts  out  of  a  hundred. 

t  Oxygen  (which  has  received  its  name  from  its 
being  the  principle  of  acidity,  or  constituting  the  ba- 


46 


maintained  in  a  gaseous  fonn,  by  means  of 
caloric^y  or  the  matter  of  heat.     It  is  the 

sis  of  all  acids)  is  likewise  a  chemical  element.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  general  agents  in  the  operations  of 
nature,  and  exists,  in  combination,  with  almost  every 
modification  of  matter.  In  union  with  caloric,  it 
forms  a  subtle  fluid,  or  gas,  which  exists  in  the  at- 
mosphere in  the  proportion  of  twenty-seven  parts  in 
a  hundred,  and  is  the  only  principle  which  conduces 
to  the  support  of  respiration  and  combustion. 

*  A  word  used  to  denote  that  substance  by  which 
the  phenomena  of  heat  are  produced.  Philosophers 
formerly  differed  in  opinion  respecting  the  causes  of 
these  phenomena.  There  were  many  who  considered 
them  as  merely  the  effect  of  the  mechanical  changes 
of  bodies,  and  some  even  admitted  an  active  princi- 
ple of  cold.  At  present,  however,  it  is  unanimously 
agreed,  that  these  effects  were  produced  by  a  pecu- 
liar matter  termed  caloric.  This  is  an  impenetrable 
and  highly  elastic  fluid,  so  very  subtle  that  its  gravity 


47 

latter  of  these  only  which  promotes  the 
respiration  of  animals.  During  this  func- 
tion, the  oxygen  gas  is  separated  from  its 
admixture  with  the  azot,  and  is  resolved 
into  its  constituent  parts,  when  the  oxygen 
combines  with  the  blood,  and  gives  it  its 
Vermillion  colour ;  and  the  caloric,  which  is 
thus  set  at  liberty,  also  enters  into  a  fresh 
combination,  and  quickly  diffuses  itself 
throughout  the  animal  body,  producing  in 
it  that  temperature  termed  animal  heat*. 

has  not  yet  been  ascertained.  It  is  diffused  through 
all  natural  bodies,  with  which  it  is  more  or  less  com- 
bined, according  as  their  affinities  for  it  are  greater 
or  less ;  and  their  temperature  is  high  or  low^,  in  pro- 
portion as  it  is  more  or  less  abundant. 

*  The  oxygen  gas  inspn^ed  combines  with  the 
venal  blood  returned  to  the  lungs,  partly  with  the 
whole,  and  partly  with  its  hydrogen  (a  simple  elemen- 


48 

This  decomposition  of  oxygen  gas,  and 
consequent  evolution  of  caloric,  appears  to 
be  influenced,  in  great  measure,  by  the 
agency  of  the  nervous  system.   The  faculty 

tary  substance,  which  combined  with  oxygen  forms 
water)  and  carbon  (pure  charcoal,  the  general  residue 
of  decomposition),  individually  forming  water  and 
carbonic  acid,  which  are  expired;  and  the  combi- 
nation of  the  oxygen  gas  with  the  remainder  of  the 
black  venal  blood  produces  the  red  arterial  blood, 
in  which,  during  the  circulation,  the  union  of  the 
oxygen  with  the  carbon  and  hydrogen  is  gradually 
extended;  and,  at  length,  having  attracted  a  new 
portion  of  hydrogen  and  carbon,  and  become  black, 
it  returns  to  the  lungs  through  the  veins.  Hence 
the  caloric,  contained  in  the  oxygen  gas,  is  partly 
disengaged  in  the  lungs,  and  partly  liberated  during 
the  circulation  of  the  blood,  in  consequence  of  the 
gradual  combination  of  the  oxygen  with  the  supera^ 
bundant  hydrogen  and  carbon. 


49 

of  evolving  heat  is  in  highest  perfection 
when  the  animal  is  in  perfect  health,  and 
the  functions  of  the  brain  and  nerves  are  in 
their  full  vigour ;  in  any  deviation  from  this 
state,  it  becomes  uncertain  and  irregular ; 
sometimes  rising  much  higher  than  the 
natural  standard,  sometimes  sinking  far 
below  it;  but  almost  invariably  corres- 
ponding with  the  degree  of  nervous  influ- 
ence then  operating  in  the  system  :  if  this 
be  inordinately  great,  so  will  be  the  degree 
of  animal  heat ;  and  if  it  be  depressed,  the 
temperature  of  the  body  will  be  propor- 
tionately reduced*.      This  is  remarkably 

*  There  are  many,  no  doubt,  who  will  be  inclined 
to  doubt  the  justice  of  this  observation.  In  the  ma- 
jority of  disorders  where  nervous  energy  is  depressed, 
as  also  in  the  atonic  diseases  of  organs  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  brain,  the  reduction  of  temperature  is 
E 


50 

illustrated  by  the  train  of  symptoms  which 
are  observed  to  take  place  in  every  well- 
sufficiently  obvious;  but  it  will  be  objected,  perhaps, 
that  there  are  some  states  of  nervous  debility,  in  which 
the  temperature  is,  on  the  contrary,  even  increased 
above  the  natural  standard.  I  have  lately  turned 
much  of  my  attention  to  this  subject,  and  amxiisposed 
to  be  of  opinion  that,  in  every  case  of  this  kind,  there 
are  other  causes  which  operate  in  producing  the  ef- 
fect. At  a  future  time,  unless  indeed  I  should  for- 
tunately be  superseded  by  some  one  more  competent 
to  the  task,  it  is  my  intention  to  offer  to  the  world 
the  result  of  a  great  number  of  experiments,  made 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  variations  in  the 
temperature  of  the  body  under  different  states  of  dis- 
ease. A  physiological  disquisition  would  be  incon- 
sistent with  the  plan  of  the  present  work;  but  if  the 
generation  of  heat  were,  as  is  generally  supposed,  a 
process  purely  chemical,  it  must  bear  a  strict  pro- 
portion to  respiration,  and  to  the  circulation  of  the 
blood.     That  it  by  no  means  does  so,  however,  the 


51 

marked  febrile  paroxysm.  Every  circum- 
stance occurring  in  the  first  stage,  or  that 
which  is  the  immediate  effect  of  the  se- 
dative power  which  produced  the  disease, 
is  characteristic  of  nervous  debility :  list- 
lessness,  and  a  universal  languor,  pervade 
the  frame ;  and  every  sensation  denotes  a 
diminished  energy  of  the  brain.     The  heat, 

following  very  remarkable  case,  related  by  Mr.  Hun- 
ter (Animal  Economy)^  will  be  sufficient  to  prove : 
A  person  affected  with  apoplexy,  while  covered  up  in 
bed,  and  defendedfrom  all  external  impressions,  was 
observed  to  have  very  sudden  and  remarkable  varia- 
tions in  the  temperature  of  his  body :  in  one  instant 
its  heat  was  found  greatly  increased  above  the  natu- 
ral degree ;  in  the  succeeding,  as  much  reduced  be- 
low it,  though  the  pulse  continued  natural.  To  what 
could  these  sudden  transitions  be  ascribed,  but  to  an 
irregular  action  of  the  brain,  and  consequent  varia- 
ble distribution  of  nervous  influence  (4)  ? 


52 


from  being  natural,  sinks  two,   three,  or 
even  four  degrees  below  the  standard*. 


When  the  re- action  of  the  system  takes 
place,  and  the  second  or  hot  stage  is  estab- 
lished, sensation,  intellect,  and  all  the  vari- 
ous functions  of  the  brain  and  nerves, 
before  torpid,  become,  on  the  contrary,  in- 
ordinately acute,  and  -  the  heat  is  found 
gradually  to  rise  until  it  attains  100,  104, 
105,  and,  in  some  cases,  107  degrees  of 
Fahrenheit's  thermometerf . 

It  is  needless,  I  presume,  to  observe,  that 
the  terms  made  use  of  to  express  varieties  of 
temperature  are  merely  relative ;  the  limits 

*  Vide  the  Reports  of  Dr.  Currie,  of  Liverpool, 
t  Vide  cases  related  by  Drs.  Currie  and  Dimsdale. 


53 

between  heat  and  cold  constantly  varying 
with  the  particular  state  of  the  body  imme- 
diately previous  to,  and  at  the  time  it  is  sub- 
jected to  the  impression.  In  general,  how- 
ever, below  45  degrees  is  considered  coldy 
above  70  hot^  and  the  mean  between  the 
two  temperate. 

The  operation  of  heat  upon  the  living 
system  is  universally  stimulant ;  the  ope- 
ration of  cold  is  either  tonic  or  sedative, 
according  to  the  mode  of  its  application ; 
for  the  animAl  frame,  like  inanimate  matter, 
is  liable  to  have  a  portion  of  its  heat  ab- 
stracted from  the  external  parts,  by  the  ap- 
plication of  a  cooler  medium  ;  but  its  inhe- 
rent powers  of  regenemtion,  when  the  im- 
pression of  cold  has  been  only  moderate, 
and  of  short  duration,  quickly  supply  the 
E  2 


54 

portion  withdrawn,  and  the  recent  evolution 
of  heat  usually  exceeds  the  previous  ab- 
straction ;  hence  moderate  degrees  of  cold, 
quickly  applied,  prove  invigorating,  by  call- 
ing forth  the  action  of  the  calorific  pow- 
ers (5) ;  but,  when  it  is  either  more  in- 
tense, or  applied  for  a  longer  time,  it  so  im» 
pairs  the  energy  of  the  brain  and  nerves,  as 
to  render  them  inadequate  to  the  perform- 
ance of  their  functions  (6) ;  in  consequence 
of  which  the  system  becomes  deprived  of 
the  due  influence  of  that  principle  which 
before  conduced  to  the  support  of  its  inhe- 
rent heat,  notwithstanding  respiration  con- 
tinues  to  be  performed  as  usual,  and  the 
usual  quantity  of  air  continues  to  be  taken 
into  the  lungs.  Its  operation  in  this  case  is 
sedative,  or  debilitating.  Thus,  by  the 
agency  of  a  certain  principle  residing  in  the 


35 

nervous  system  is  the  natural  heat  of  the 
body  preserved  and  supported ;  and,  con- 
sequently, in  proportion  as  the  frame  is 
more  vigorous,  so  will  be  its  capacity  of 
resisting  the  effects  of  external  temperature. 

Whenever  the  whole,  or  part  of  the  body, 
has  been  exposed  to  the  long- continued 
action,  or  otherwise  to  the  sedative  influ- 
ence of  cold,  it  is  said  to  be  chilled  ;  or,  in 
other  words,  it  falls  into  a  state  of  atony, 
in  consequence  of  the  reduction  of  its 
nervous  energy,  and  is  thereby  deprived  of 
the  faculty  of  duly  supporting  its  natural 
heat  (7). 

This  state  occurring  universally,  and  to 
a  great  extent,  usually  proves  destructive 


56 

to  life*.     When  local,  or  general,  and  in  a 
less  degree,  it  proves  the  exciting  cause  to 

*  The  way  in  which  extreme  cold  produces  death, 
is  by  inducing  a  profound  and  fatal  sleep.  Under 
very  severe  degrees  of  cold,  therefore,  the  approach 
of  drowsiness  should  be  guarded  against  with  the 
utmost  care,  and  prevented  by  exertion.  Often, 
however,  the  propensity  to  sleep  is.  utterly  uncon- 
querable, and  the  .person  exposed  to  the  cold  is 
unable  to  resist  its  power,  although  conscious  of  the 
fate  that  must  result  from  indulging  it.  Solander, 
who  well  knew  this  circumstance,  and  who  had  al- 
ready cautioned  those  v/ho  accompanied  him,  whilst 
traversing  a  desert  region  covered  with  snow,  was 
himself  the  victim  of  an  overwhelming  drowsiness, 
from  which  his  companions  in  vain  attempted  to 
rouse  him.  The  circumstance  of  a  woman  remark- 
ably surviving  a  very  long  exposure  to  the  influence 
of  frost  and  snow,  some  winters  since,  in  Hunting- 
donshire, must  be  in  the  memory  of  every  one.  She 


51 

various  diseases  of  the  active  kind,  deter- 
mined in  their  seat  by  the  particular  predis- 
position of  the  person  ;  the  weakest  part  of 
the  bod}^  invariably  receiving  the  noxious 
impression,  however  generally  applied. 
Thus,  those  whose  pulmonary  system  is 
weak  and  irritable,  will  have  catarrh  or 
pneumonia;  others,  whose  muscular  fibres 
are  most  susceptible,  will  be  attacked  with 
rheumatism  ;  and  those  addicted  to  ebriety 
will,  perhaps,  be  aiFected  with  an  inflamma- 
tion of  the  liver  ;  and  so  of  various  other 
inflammatory  affections  (8).  Catarrhs 
(colds),  however,  are  by  far  most  frequent, 
which  perhaps  may  be  accounted  for,  in  a 
great   measure,  from  the  lungs   being  so 

afterwards  declared  it  was  her  firm  belief,  that  the 
preservation  of  her  life  was  the  consequence  of  har- 
ing  accidentally  read  the  above  account  of  Solander* 


58 

particularly  exposed  to  all  the  varieties  of 
atmospherical  temperature  :  but  it  is  by  no 
means  necessary,  in  order  to  produce  ca- 
tarrh, or  any  other  local  inflammation,  that 
the  exciting  cause  be  applied,  either  gene- 
rally to  the  system  at  large,  or  exclusively 
to  the  part ;  for  the  effect  of  cold,  applied 
any  where  to  the  body,  will,  by  sympathy, 
or  that  astonishing  power  of  connexion  in 
the  living  animal  system,  be  communicated 
to,  and  be  equally  the  cause  of  injury  to, 
that  part  which  happens  to  be  more  suscep- 
tible than  the  rest  (9).  Thus,  the  walking 
barefoot  for  an  instant  upon  the  cold  floor, 
the  accidentally  exposing  to  the  cold  air 
any  part  of  the  body  that  has  been  usually 
covered,  the  taking  in  of  cold  fluids  into 
the  stomach,  or  any  other  partial  im- 
pression of  cold,  however  slight,  will  of- 


59 

tea  be  sufficient  to  produce  an  inflamma- 
tion of  the  delicate  membrane  of  the  bron- 
chee.  Many,  indeed,  are  so  remarkably 
susceptible  of  this  affection,  that  they  are 
seldom  conscious  of  the  causes  which  excite 
it :  variations  of  temperature,  too  slight  to  be 
sensible  to  the  feeling,  usually  proving  suffi- 
cient to  produce  a  state  of  catarrhal  disease. 

The  circumstances  which,  added  to  the 
presence  of  the  predisposing  causes  before 
mentioned,  facilitate  the  operation  of  cold 
in  the  production  of  catarrh,  are,  1st,  with 
respect  to  the  cold  itself ^  its  being  applied 
partially,  or  with  a  current  of  air,  its  being 
combined  with  moisture*^,  the  vicissitude 

*  Vide  what  is  said  on  this  subject,  under  the  head 
III. —  The  application  of  moisture  to  the  Kvhole^  or  to 
a  p.art^  of  the  bodijr. 


-60 

from  heat  to  cold  being  sudden ;  2dly,  with 
respect  to  the  person  subjected  to  its  influ- 
ence, his  own  powers  of  generating  heat  hap- 
pening at  the  time  to  be  defective,  from  the 
debiUty  induced  by  long  fasting,  fatigue, 
profuse  evacuations,  recent  debauch,  watch- 
ing, much  study,  and,  consequently,  seden- 
tary life,  rest  immediately  after  violent  ex- 
ercise, sleep,  preceding  disease  ;  the  whole 
or  part  of  the  body  being  deprived  of  its 
usual  covering,  or  one  part  being  exposed, 
v/hile  the  rest  ai-e  kept  warmer  than  usual ; 
the  presence  of  perspiration. 

The  precise  mode  in  which  cold  pro- 
duces inflammation  has  given  rise  to  much 
dispute.  To  enter  largely  into  this  sub- 
ject would  be  foreign  to  the  design  of  the 
present  work ;  the  follow^ing  concise  expla- 


61 

nation,  from  which  the  intricacies  of  theory 
are  excluded,  will  be  amply  sufficient  to 
afford  a  general  idea.  The  part  chilled  by 
the  impression  of  cold  is  not  immediately 
capable  of  accommodating  itself  to  a  fresh 
supply  of  caloric*.  This,  therefore,  which 
was  before  only  a  natural  stimulus,  if  sud- 
denly imparted,  becomes  a  powerful  irri- 
tant, and  excites  the  vascular  system  of  the 
part  to  inordinate  action.  Hence  it  w^ill  be 
understood  that,  in  order  to  induce  catarrhal 
inflammation,  it  is  necessary  that  the  seda- 
tive operation  of  cold  should  be  followed, 
more  or  less  immediately,  by  the  stimulus  of 
as  high,  or  a  higher  degree  of  heat,  than  is 

*  In  the  language  of  modern  physiology,  under 

the  influence  of  cold  excitability  accumulates,  and 

the  system  becomes  more  capable  of  receivmg  the 

action  of  stimuli,  and  is  morbidly  affected  by  them. 

F 


62 

natural  to  the  part:'  this  is  communicated 
in  various  ways ;  either  by  the  natural  calo- 
rific functions,  subsequently  excited  into 
increased  action  by  the  powers  of  nature, 
in  order  to  supply  the  place  of  the  portion 
of  heat  previously  abstracted ;  or  by  an 
increased  circulation  in  the  arterial  system, 
induced  by  violent  muscular  exertion ;  or 
by  the  operation  of  stimuli  taken  inter- 
nally*, or  by  external  and  artificial  heat  ( 10). 

A  person,  not  particularly  liable  to 
catarrh,  would,  probably,  seldom  feel  ill 
effects  from  being  chilled  by  an  exposure  to 
the  cold  air,  if  he  were  careful  to  restore 

*  The  mistaken  idea  of  the  necessity  of  "  taking 
something  warm  to  keep  the  cold  cut,"  occasions 
more  colds,  perhaps,  than  all  the  other  exciting 
CAUses  of  the  complaint  united. 


65 

the  natural  warmth  of  the  body  by  degrees ; 
but  if,  during  the  presence  of  that  uncom- 
fortable state  of  feeUng  produced  by  the 
diminished  temperature,  he  either  suddenly 
come  into  a  warm  room,  or  drink  of  warm 
stimulating  liquids,  he  will  seldom  escape 
with  impunity.  In  those  who  are  predis- 
posed to  it  by  a  natural  or  acquired  delica- 
cy of  habit,  an  artificial  stimulus  is  unne- 
cessary to  produce  the  eifect. 

Cold,  applied  internally,  very  rai'ely  be- 
comes a  cause  of  catarrh.  Its  impression 
upon  the  stomach,  indeed,  is  seldom  inju- 
rious, unless  under  two  circumstances ; 
first,  when  combined  with  the  influence  of 
a  very  low  degree  of  external  temperature, 
or  when  received  during  the  existence  of  a 
state  of  sensible  cold  ;  secondly,  during 
the  presence  of  profuse  perspiration.     In 


64 

the  fonner  case,  it  co-operates  in  the  pro- 
duction of  chill ;  in  the  latter,  it  sometimes 
produces  so  great  and  immediate  a  depres- 
sion of  the  vis  vitas  as  to  be  suddenly  des- 
tructive to  life*. 

*  Of  the  fatal  effects  of  drinking  cold  water  dur- 
ing profuse  perspiration,  the  records  of  medicine  af- 
ford innumerable  instances.  Of  these  none,  perhaps, 
is  more  striking  than  the  following  :  A  young  man, 
who  had  been  engaged  in  a  long  and  severe  match 
at  fives,  after  it  was  over  sat  down  on  the  ground, 
panting  for  breath,  and  covered  with  profuse  per- 
spiration; "  in  this  state  he  called  to  a  servant  to 
bring  him  a  pitcher  of  cold  water,  just  drawn  from 
a  pump  in  sight.  He  held  it  in  his  hand  for  some 
minutes,  but  put  it  to  his  head  as  soon  as  he  had  re- 
covered his  breath,  and  drank  a  large  quantity  at 
once.  He  laid  his  hand  on  his  stomach,  and  bent 
forwards ;  his  countenance  became  pale,  his  breath 
Laborious,  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  expired."  (11). 


'65 

The  means  of  obviating  this  most  fre- 
quent cause  of  catarrh  are  easily  to  be  de^ 
duced  from  what  has  just  been  said  of  the 
effects  of  temperature  upon  the  human 
body.  They  consist,  1st,  in  gradually  and 
cautiously  inuring  the  habit  to  the  impres- 

Fide  Currie's  (of  Liverpool)  Reports  of  the  Medical 
Profierties  of  the  External  and  Internal  Use  of  Water 
in  Febrile  Diseases  j  where  various  other  analogous 
cases  are  related  from  different  authors,  p.  100,  etseg. 
The  introduction  of  cold  fluids  into  the  stomach  is  ne- 
ver injurious  while  the  heat  of  the  body  is  dry,  how- 
ever great  it  may  be ;  nor  upon  the  first  breaking  out 
of  sweat.  In  all  the  instances  which  are  recorded 
of  its  fatal  effects,  the  perspiration,  on  the  one  hand, 
has  been  extremely  profuse  and  long  continued,  or, 
on  the  other,  it  has  been  accompanied  by  the  debility 
of  fatigue  produced  by  previous  inordinate  exertion. 
Vide  Schenkiusf  Observationes^  Medica  Rariores 
Lugd.  644. 

F  2 


66 

sions  of  cold;  2dly,  in  accommodating 
dress  to  season  and  personal  feeling ;  3dly, 
when  changes  from  cold  to  heat,  or  the 
contrary,  are  unavoidable,  in  guarding 
against  the  transition  being  sudden  and  im- 
mediate. 

1.  Throughout  the  great  diversity  of 
climates,  from  the  burning  sands  of  Africa 
to  the  frozen  regions  of  the  north,  it  is  ob- 
served that  all-provident  Nature,  with  a 
vievv  to  the  preservation  of  animal  life  and 
health,  has  carefully  accommodated  the 
habits  and  customs  of  the  inhabitants  to 
the  temperature  they  are  destined  to  be 
exposed  to.  In  the  colder  climes,  she  has 
inured  them  to  a  life  of  exercise,  and  has 
even  made  fatigue  habitual  to  them  :  their 
natural  diversions  are  all  of  the  athletic,  or 


Q7 

more  violent  kindj  and  they  are  accustomed 
to  activity,  not  less  from  choice,  than  from 
the  necessity  of  their  situation,  which  ren- 
ders requisite  a  frequent  stimulus  to  the 
calorific  powers  of  the  animal  frame. 
Unhappily  the  innovations  of  modern 
luxury  and  refinement  have  perverted  her 
intentions,  and  deprived  them  of  their  na- 
tural defence  against  the  influence  of  their 
inclement  atmosphere. 

Nothing  so  much  contributes  to  enervate 
the  powers  of  the  human  frame  as  an  ex- 
cess of  artificial  heat :  universal  listlessness, 
sickening  langour,  and  an  inaptitude  or 
incapacity  from  exertion,  are  its  never-fail- 
ing effects ;  every  nerve  is  unstrung,  the 
muscles  lose  their  wonted  contractility, 
and  the  system  is  rendered  totally  incapable 


68 

bf  being  excited  to  vigorous  and  healthy 
action ;  an  excessive  sensibility  supervenes, 
which  renders  the  whole  frame  morbidly 
aKve  to  eyety  unusual  impression,  and  open 
to  the  attack  of  every  noxious  power. 

It  is  to  be  lamented,  that  the  enfeebling 
effeminacy  of  manners,  more  especially 
prevalent  among  the  middle  and  higher 
classes  of  society,  has  rendered  high  de- 
grees  of  temperature  essential  to  the  main- 
tenance of  pleasurable  sensation.  The 
ruinous  effect  of  this  indulgence  is,  that  our 
health  and  comfort  are  destroyed  by  the 
frequent  recurrence  of  some  or  other  of 
those  disorders  which  have  their  origin  in 
cold.  Debilitated  by  the  perpetual  stimu- 
lus of  heat,  we  become  sensible  to  every, 
even  the  slightest,  variation  of  atmospheri- 


69 

cal  temperature.  When  necessity  forces 
us  to  face  the  wintry  air,  the  heat  of  the 
external  parts  is  rapidly  reduced  below  the 
natural  standard ;  we  become  chilly  and 
comfortless,  shiver  at  every  ruder  breath, 
and  hasten  J  within  the  baneful  influence  of 
external  heat,  to  enjoy  an  artificial  state  of 
grateful  feeling ;  in  consequence  of  which 
the  tone  and  re- acting  powers  compatible 
with  health  are  lost,  and  the  body  is  left  a 
prey  to  the  diseases  peculiar  to  our  situation. 

Let  those,  therefore,  who  have  at  heart 
the  preservation  of  their  health,  and  the 
vigour  of  whose  frames  is  as  yet  entire, 
carefully  avoid  making  this  effeminate  in- 
dulgence necessary  to  their  comfort.  Let 
them,  by  gradually  training  themselves  to 
bear  the  impressions  of  cold,  endeavour  to 


70 

induce  that  enviable  state  of  hardiness  that 
will  enable  them  to  brave,  with  impunity, 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  atmosphere  of 
our  climate.  This  they  will,  in  great  mea- 
sure, be  able  to  accomplish,  by  living  in 
cool  rooms^  by  accustoming  themselves  to  re- 
gular exercise,  in  the  open  air,  during  the 
colder  months,  by  habitual  cold  bathing,  and 
by  abstaining  from  the  use  of  large  quan^ 
titles  of  warm  enervating  liquids. 

By  adopting  these  means  they  will  soon 
cease  to  be  the  subject  of  unpleasant  chills 
and  flushings ;  they  will  lose  that  nervous 
irritability,  which  rendered  them  so  exqui- 
sitely and  distressingly  alive  to  every  change 
of  feeling ;  they  will  no  longer  shiver  at  the 
winter  breeze ;  and,  when  exposed  to  cold. 


71 


a  :genial  healthy  glow  will  eiFectually  ensure 
them  from  its  ill  eiFects. 

Few  of  the  refinements  of  modem 
luxury  are  more  prejudicial  to  health,  by 
rendering  the  body  susceptible  of  cold, 
than  the  living  in  rooms  heated  by  enor- 
mous fires,  and  rendered  impermeable  to 
every  breath  of  air. 

"  Let  lofty  ceilings  grace  your  ample  rooms, 
And  still,  at  azure  noontide,  may  your  dome 
At  every  windov/  drink  the  liquid  sky. 

******* 

Else  every  breath  of  ruder  wind  will  strike 
Your  tender  body  through  with  rapid  pains; 
Fierce  coughs  will  tease  you,  hoarseness  bind  your 

voice, 
Or  moist  gravedo  load  your  aching  brows." 


72 

With  regard  to  the  size  of  rooms  in- 
deed, it  is  true,  there  are  not  many,  com- 
paratively speaking,  who  have  the  advan- 
tage of  a  choice  in  this  respect ;  but  it  is 
in  the  power  of  every  one  to  render  the 
apartments  they  occupy  cool  and  airy; 
and  there  are  none,  perhaps,  who  have  it 
not  in  their  power,  more  or  less  frequently 
during  the  day,  to  breathe  the  open  air 
without  doors.  When  necessity  compels 
to  a  sedentary  life,  the  heat  created  by  lire, 
during  the  colder  months,  should  never 
perhaps,  except  in  cases  of  indisposition, 
exceed  the  medium  between  the  usual 
summer  warmth  and  the  cold  of  freezing*. 

*  England,  Holland,  and  the  northern  parts  of 
Germany,  are  upon  the  same  latitude,  and  the  tran- 
sitions from  heat  to  cold  are,  in  all  of  them,  almost 
equally  great  and  frequent.     Observe  the  difference 


7 


Q 


In  endeavouring,  however,  to  habituate 
the  system  to  two  degrees  of  temperature, 
one  caution  is  of  the  most  essential  impor- 

of  their  effects  upon  the  constitution  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, as  influenced  by  the  difference  of  their  habits 
and  customs.  The  Dutch  accustom  themselves  to 
live  in  rooms  as  ai}y  and  cool  as  possible ;  their  dress 
is  of  equable  ivarmth,  and  constantly  regulated  by 
change  of  feeling ;  they  seldom  become  the  subjects 
of  catarrh.  The  English,  their  neighbours  on  the 
one  side,  live  in  apartments  which  are  maintained  of 
as  high  a  degree  of  luannth  as  possible  ;  their  dress 
is  almost  equally  light  at  every  season  of  the  year ; 
they  are  incessantly  tormented  with  coughs.  In 
Germany,  on  the  other  side,  the  heat  to  which  the 
generality  of  the  inhabitants  expose  themselves,  from 
their  ovens  ahd  stoves,  is  sufficient  to  suffocate  any 
one  who  has  accustomed  himself  only  to  a  moderate 
degree  of  warmth  ;  they  are  said  to  be  equally  liable 
to  catarrhs  and  consequent  consumptions. 
G 


74 

tance  to  be  attended  to;  namely,  never. to 
remain  inactive,  either  in  the  open  air  or  in 
cool  apartments,  long  enough  to  induce  a 
continued  and  unpleasant  sensation  of  actual 
cold.  This,  in  all  cases,  would  effectually 
counteract  the  design  proposed,  and  by 
frequent  repetition  would,  in  all  probability, 
ultimately  be  sufficient  to  injure  the  strong- 
est constitution :  the  sedative  operation  of 
cold  would  commence,  the  natural  powers 
which  generate  heat  would  yield  to  its  in- 
fluence, and  the  subsequent  application  of 
heat,  unless  very  gradual,  would,  in  those 
more  particularly  predisposed,  'produce  a 
state  of  catarrhal  inflammation. 

There  are  very  few,  even  the  most 
weakly,  but  can  use  muscular  exertion 
enough  to  excite  an  increased  action  of  th? 


75 

heart  and  arteries,  and  consequent  evolution 
of  heat  over  the  surface  of  the  body.  The 
exercise  employed  for  this  purpose  should 
uniformly  approach  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
borders  of  fatigue,  but  should  never  exceed 
them;  and  a  grateful  sense  of  natural  warmth, 
a  heightened  complexion,  and  an  unusual 
alertness  and  freshness  of  feeling,  should  be 
the  criterion  of  its  good  effects.  **  Of  all 
kinds  of  exercise,  or  muscular  action, 
walking,  for  its  equable  diffusion  of  motion 
through  the  whole  animal  system,  is  un- 
questionably best ;  riding  is  next  to  walk- 
ing ;  as  to  lolling  in  a  carriage,  unless  one 
is  too  weak  to  bear  any  other  motion,  it 
only  serves  to  rob  one  of  the  benefit  of  the 
more  effectual  and  even  more  pleasant  ex- 
ercise of  one's  limbs."  Various  gymnastic 
exercises,  within  doors,  may  at  all  times  be 


advantageously  resorted  to  in  unfavourable 
weather;  as  skipping  the  rope,  using  the 
dumb-bells,  battledore  and  shuttle-cock, 
&c.,  he. 

The  necessity  of  habitual  exposure  to 
cold,  in  eai'ly  life,  cannot  be  too  sti'ongly 
insisted  upon.  Except  during  the  hours 
dedicated  to  instruction,  and  other  necessary- 
employments,  or  when  the  weather  is  rainy, 
or  the  atmosphere  is  impregnated  with 
moisture  in  the  form  of  fog  (at  which  times 
the  room  they  occupy  should  be  of  a  com- 
fortable degree  of  warmth),  children  should 
be  constantly  in  the  open  air,  their  hands 
and  feet,  only,  guarded  by  warm  clothing ; 
and  the  more  vigorous  their  sports,  the  more 
will  their  frames  be  rendered  robust*. 

*  A  sedentary  life,  or  occupations  that  require 
little  exertion,  in  a  short  time  not  only  impair  the 


n 

Let  the  anxious  parent,  who  with  mis- 
taken care  assiduously  screens  her  children 
from-^the  wintry  sky,  compare  their  tender 
forms  and  pallid  hue  to  the  rosy  bloom 

power,  but  also  destroy  the  desire  to  exert  the  mus- 
cles of  voluntary  motion,  more  particularly  in  early 
life,  before  they  are  completely  formed.  This  is  too 
often  the  case  in  female  boarding-schools,  where  the 
children,  in  consequence  of  confinement,  and  of  the 
delicacy  of  frame  that  it  produces,  acquire  an  utter 
aversion  to  move,  and  a  horror  for  any  temperature 
below  spring  heat.  "  To  my  questions  on  the  sub- 
ject of  skipping,  playing,  and  using  the  dumb-bells," 
observes  Dr.  Beddoes,  "  we  would  always  ten  times 
rather  sit  by  the  fire, — we  never  exerted  ourselves 
when  we  could  avoid  it, — it  is  amazing  how  indolent 
we  all  were, — have  been  the  never-failing  answers," 
Hygeia^  vol.  1.  ess.  o.fi.  48.  Confinement  to  boys 
is  not  less  injurious  ;  and  in  after-life  contributes  to 
the  most  deplorable  maladies  both  of  body  and  mind. 
G  2 


78 

and  lusty  make  of  little  cottage  rustics. 
Can  she  contemplate  without  envying  that 
healthy  vigour  of  frame,  which  sets  at  defi- 
ance the  utmost  rigour  of  the  element,  and 
which  all  her  fond  indulgence  has  failed 
to  produce  ? 

Another  practice,  equally  injurious,  is 
that  of  sleeping  in  heated  apartments,  upon 
beds  of  down,  artificially  warmed,  and  un- 
der a  heap  of  bed-clothes.  The  morbid 
irritability  of  the  sentient  extremities  of  the 
nerves,  produced  by  habits  of  indulgence, 
renders  it  necessary  for  the  voluptuary  that 
his  bed  should  be  of  the  softest  materials  : 
unable  to  bear  the  chilling  touch  of  the 
cold  sheets,  these  are  warmed  to  a  degree 
beyond  the  natural  heat  of  his  body,  and, 


79 

to  maintain  this  temperature,  a  suffocating 
load  of  clothes  is  imposed,  and  the  sur- 
rounding air  is  rarified  by  the  bed- room 
stove.  All  these  luxurious  incentives  to 
rest  he,  however,  usually  finds  insufficient : 
a  feverish  state  is  excited,  his  sleep  is  dis- 
turbed by  uneasy  dreams  ;  and,  upon  awak- 
ing, instead  of  being  refi*eshed,  and  feel- 
ing renovated  strength,  he  is  irritable,  lan- 
guid, spent,  spiritless,  and  uncomfortably 
chifly ;  and  so  he  continues  until  a  state  of 
forced  excitement  restores  him  to  his 
wanted  feeling.  How  different  the  sleep 
of  the  industrious  labourer,  when,  weary 
with  healthy  exercise,  he  sinks  upon  his 
€old^  hard  couch;  or,  perhaps,  deprived 
even  of  this,  upon  his  bed  of  straw !  The 
powers  of  his  constitution  are  unimpaired 


80 

by  luxury,  and  nature  soon  excites  a  general 
heat  that  lulls  him  to  refreshing  slurhber.^ 
His  sleep  is  undisturbed,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing he  feels  his  vigour  restored,  and  he  is 
enabled  to  resume  his  laborious  occupa- 
tions with  ease  and  pleasure. 

In  the  strong  and  healthy,  the  sensation 
of  cold  communicated  by  the  linen,  upon 
first  getting  into  bed,  operates,  in  great 
measure,  as  an  instantaneous  immersion  in 
cold  water.  It  abstracts  a  portion  of  heat 
from  the  surface  of  the  body,  which  is  suc- 
ceeded by  an  increased  evolution,  or  a  glow 
of  warmth,  and  this  a  moderate  degree  of 
covering  is  generally  sufficient  to  keep  up. 
In  order  to  ensure  this  effect,  however,  it  is 
necessary  for  the  body  to  be  previously  mo- 


81 

derately  warm^.  If  those  who  are  in  the 
habit  of  having  their  beds  warmed  would 
summon  resolution  to  try  the  experiment, 
how  much  more  grateful  would  they  find 
this  natural  warmth  than  the  forced  sensa- 
tion they  are  accustomed  to  ! 

Injurious,  however,  as  is  the  practice  of 
bed- warming,  its  total  abolition  would, 
perhaps,  be  hardly  less  so  than  its  general 
use.     There  are  many  cases  in  which  it  is 

*  It  is  a  common  and  a  just  observation,  that  if 
you  get  into  bed  cold  and  chilly,  you  will  remain  sq 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  night.  In  this  case, 
the  temperature  of  the  body  being  previously  re- 
duced, the  cold  bed  fails  to  produce  its  tonic  effect. 
It  should  be  a  rule,  therefore,  always  to  acquire  a 
moderate  warmth  immediately  previous  to  retiring 
to  rest. 


82 

necessary,  as  well  as  salutary ;  as  in  very 
severe  seasons  to  the  delicate  and  sickly ; 
but  in  no  case  should  the  bed  be  heated  to 
more  than  about  60  or  70  degrees.  Those 
likewise  who  live  in  habits  of  luxury,  more 
particularly  females,  should  be  extremely 
cautious,  when  the  weather  is  very  cold,  not 
to  remain  long  in  a  room  without  a  fire, 
with  less  than  their  usual  covering*.     For 

*  «  I  here,"  observes  Dr.  Beddoes,  "  expressly 
subjoin,  that  the  direction  for  extinguishing  bed- 
room fires  is  not  to  be  extended  to  the  time  when 
girls  are  dressing  for  public  places,  in  winter.  I 
have  known  dangerous  complaints  take  place,  appa- 
rently from  this  cause,  in  families  where  a  parental 
prohibition  issued  against  a  fire,  on  such  occasions, 
though  the  voice  and  feelings  of  a  daughter  joined 
to  call  for  it.  When  one  considers  what  a  frequent 
business  it  is,  at  some  places,  to  prepare  for  the  ball, 
k  is  not  too  much  to  assert,  that  one  season's  dress- 


83 

this  reason,  bed-room  fires,  producing  a 
temperature  of  about  45  or  50  degrees,  are 
necessary  during  the  periods  of  dressing. 
But  in  all  those  cases  where  mere  personal 
feehng  is  the  only  motive  for  these  indul- 
gences, the  relinquishing  them  will,  I  am 
convinced,  prove  an  important  step  towards 
the  banishing  of  colds^  which  are  now  more 
than  ever  frequent  and  troublesome. 

Of  all  the  means  within  our  reach  for 
strengthening  the  powers  of  the  constitu- 
tion, and  producing  hardiness,  regular  cold 
bathing  is  perhaps  the  most  effectual ;  but 
it  is  more  than  any  other  liable  to  be 
abused :  for  this  reason  it  may  not  be  im- 

ing  in  the  cold  may  undermine  the  firmest  female 
constitution.'*    Beddoes^  Mygeia^  vaL  2.  ess.  l.fi.  56. 


84 

proper,  in  the  present  place,  to  lay  down 
a  few  rules  by  which  its  use  should  be  con- 
ducted. The  time  chosen  for  the  purpose 
should  be  the  early  part  of  the  day,  and 
never  during  the  relaxing  influence  of  the 
meridian  -sun  ;  the  immersion  should  be 
sudden  and  regularly  repeated ;  previous  to 
the  immersion  a  gentle  sense  of  dry  warmth 
should  be  produced  upon  the  surface  of  the 
body  by  moderate  exercise ;  there  should 
be  no  sense  of  chilliness  present,  nor  actual 
coldness  to  the  touch  of  another  person,  nor 
any  partial  nor  general  perspiration^  nor  the 
debility  induced  by  fatigue ;  the  stomach 
should  neither  be  empty  nor  overcharged. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  for  every 
one  who  seeks  to  invigorate  their  frames  by 
the  cold  bath,  to  examine  well  the  state  of 


85 

their  feeling  prior  to  its  use.  A  person 
who  approaches  the  brink  trembling  and 
fearful,  or  in  a  state  of  actual  cold,  unwill- 
ingly plunges  into  the  stream,  and  after- 
wards, instead  of  experiencing  a  healthy 
glow  of  heat,  feels  chilly  and  uncomfortable, 
instead  of  being  invigorated,  will,  upon 
every  successive  ti'ial,  be  rendered  more 
debile*. 

*  "  The  popular  opinion  that  it  is  safest  to  go 
perfectly  cool  mto  the  water  is  founded  on  erroneous 
notions,  and  is  sometimes  productive  of  injurious 
consequences.  Thus  persons  heated  and  beginning 
to  sweat  often  think  it  necessary  to  wait  on  the 
edge  of  the  bath  until  they  are  perfectly  cooled,  and 
then  plunging  into  the  water,  feel  a  sudden  chilliness 
that  is  alarming  and  dangerous.  In  such  cases  the 
injury  is  generally  imputed  to  going  into  the  water 
too  warm,  whereas  in  truth  it  arises  from  going 
in  too  cold."  Currie  (of  Liverpool). 
H 


86 

Long  continued  bathing  is  equally  im- 
proper. The  effect  of  the  sudden  applica- 
tion of  water  of  a  low  temperature  is  uni- 
versally strengthening.  It  is,  as  was  be- 
fore observed,  an  attack  upon  the  natural 
powers  that  generate  heat,  in  consequence 
of  which  their  re- action  is  excited,  and  a 
greater  portion  of  caloric  is  thrown  out 
upon  the  surface,  from  which  it  had  been 
previously  abstracted  by  the  cold  medium. 
Its  long  continued  application  is  as  univer- 
sally debilitating;  for,  after  a  short  time, 
the  heat  of  the  body  begins  to  be  subducted 
faster  than  it  can  be  supplied.  This  is  not 
the  case,  however,  when  vigorous  muscular 
exertion  is  used  at  the  same  time,  as  in  the 
act  of  swimming ;  yet,  even  in  this  case, 
the  remaining  too  long  in  the   water  is 


87 


generally  productive  of  debility,  and  should 
therefore  be  avoided*. 

*  In  very  delicate  constitutions,  cold  bathing  has 
been  sometimes  found  gradually  to  increase  the 
debility  of  the  system,  and  ultimately  to  induce  the 
most  alarming  state  of  disease  ;  whereas,  on  the  con- 
trary, tefiid  bathing  has  proved  invigorating.  Vide 
the  observations  of  Dr.  Beddoes  on  cold^  cool,  and 
tejiid  bathing,  Essay  on  Consumjition  j  and  of  Dr. 
Buchan  in  his  Essay  on  cold  and  warm  bathing. 
Even  in  the  stoutest,  the  too  long  continued,  too 
frequently  repeated,  or  otherwise  injudicious  use  of 
the  cold  bath,  instead  of  strengthening  the  powers 
of  the  constitution,  will  be  found  uniformly  prejudi- 
cial to  health.  Every  one  who  has  been  much  in 
the  habit  of  bathing,  after  having  remained  for  too 
long  a  time  in  the  water,  must  occasionally  have  felt 
his  frame  pervaded  by  an  almost  death-like  languor. 
Whenever  this  is  the  case,  debility  is  the  only  effect. 
In  Gertain  constitutions,  however,  and  under  some 
particular  states  of  body,  very  long  continued  im- 


88 

The  pernicious  effects  of  cold  bathing 
during  the  presence  of  profuse  perspiration 

mersions  in  cold  water  are  not  only  borne  with  impu- 
nity, but  are,  on  the  contrary,  in  the  highest  degree 
sahitary  and  refreshing ;  a  very  remarkable  instance 
of  v.hich  is  related  upon  the  authority  of  Dr.  Ro- 
bertson, late  surgeon-general  of  the  navy  hospital  in 
Barbadoes.— A  gentleman  in  this  island,  a  great  vo- 
tary of  Bacchus,  was  in  the  practice,  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  years,  of  plunging  into  cold  water  when  he 
3'ose  from  his  bottle,  and  of  actually  going  to  sleep 
in  a  trough  full  of  water,  with  his  head  supported  on 
a  kind  of  wooden  pillow,  made  for  the  purpose,  above 
the  surface.  In  this  watery  bed  he  would  sleep  one, 
tv/o,  three,  or  even  more  hours,  experiencing  always 
the  greatest  refreshment.  His  wife  and  family, 
Vv^hen  they  wished  him  to  change  his  quarters,  used 
to  draw  out  the  plug,  and  let  the  water  run  off,  when 
he  awoke,  and  humorously  complained  of  the  loss 
cf  his  bed-clothes.  Extract  of  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Robertson,  Vide  Currie's  (of  Liverpool)  Medical 
Jiefiorts,  vol.  \.p.  294. 


89 

are  too  generally  known  and  justly  dreaded 
to  require  any  comment*. 

*  It  is  probable  that  in  a  state  of  moderate  per- 
spiration, where  the  heat  of  the  body  is  still  consi- 
derable, and  the  strength  has  not  been  exhausted  by 
excessive  exertion,  an  immersion  in  water,  however 
cold,  would  never  be  found  hurtful.  The  effects  of 
immersion,  or  of  any  sudden  and  great  application  of 
cold,  are  only  to  be  dreaded  when  sweating  (more 
especially  if  this  has  been  excited  by  long  continued 
or  vehement  muscular  exertion),  after  having  been 
profuse,  is  upon  the  decline ;  when  the  heat  is,  in 
consequence,  rapidly  diminishing;  and  the  body  is, 
at  the  same  time,  under  the  influence  of  languor  and 
fatigue :  and,  in  these  cases,  the  mischief,  probably, 
seldom  arises  from  the  suppression  of  the  sweat  (as 
is  the  commonly  received  opinion),  but  from  the 
great  and  sudden  operation  of  cold  upon  the  vital 
principle  residing  in  the  nervous  system,  at  this 
time  particularly  sensible  to  its  attack. 

h2 


90 

The  influence  of  the  different  tempera- 
tures and  stimulating  properties  of  fluids, 
taken  into  the  stomach,  in  producing  ca- 
tarrh, has  already  been  spoken  of ;  it  is  in- 
tended in  this  place  only  to  insist  upon  the 
bad  effects  of  the  custom  of  drinking  large 
quantities  of  warm,  sedative,  and  enervating 
liquids ;  of  which  the  chief  is  excess  of  tea 
drinking* 

It  has  been  imagined  by  many,  that  tea 
has  been  unjustly  accused,  and  that  the 
ill  eflfects,  usually  ascribed  to  it,  may,  with 
greater  propriety,  be  referred  to  other 
causes;  I  am  well  convinced,  however,  of 
the  contrary,  and  numerous  respectable  au- 
thorities are  not  wanting  in  support  of  the 
opinion*. 

*  Vide  what  is  said  on  the  subject  of  tea  drinking, 
fey  Dr.  Whytt,  Treatise  on  the  Mrvesi  MichcU  on 


91 

The  abuse  of  tea  is  almost  peculiar  to 
the  female  sex ;  and  it  is  prevalent  alike 
through  every  class  of  society,  from  the 
cottager  to  the  duchess.  Among  the  poor 
of  large  towns,  it  forms  a  principal  article 
of  diet.  It  heightens  the  feelings,  produces 
a  temporary  exhilaration  of  spirits,  and  cre- 
ates a  state  approaching  to  intoxication : 
they  therefore  prefer  it  to  more  substantial 
aliment.  Although  the  poison  v^^hich  it 
instils  is  slow  in  its  operation,  yet,  sooner 
or  later,  its  effects  become  perceptible  ;  an 
unaccountable  depression  of  spirits,  uni- 
versal languor,  and  an  indescribable  sensa- 
tion of  imbecility  and  sinking  pervade  the 
frame ;  every  nerve  becomes  inordinately 
irritable,  and  the  moving  fibres  with  which 

Nervous  Diseases;   Murray  Apfi.  Medicaminurn i 
Beddoes'  Hy^eia;   Willich  on  Diet  and  Regimen, 


92 

they  are  connected  are  thrown,  by  the 
slightest  causes,  into  various  convulsive 
motions;  the  whole  system  becomes  ex- 
quisitely sensible,  and  a  long  train  of  ner- 
vous diseases  and  indigestion  infallibly  en- 
sue ;  added  to  which  an  excessive  propen- 
sity to  catching  cold  is  its  never- failing 
and  not  least  unpleasant  ejBPect. 

2.  In  a  climate  so  variable  as  ours,  where 
the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  succeed  each 
other  in  such  capricious  alternation,  we  can 
hardly  hope  to  be  successful  in  the  banish- 
ing colds,  while  such  a  total  inattention 
prevails  to  the  adapting  dress  to  tempera- 
ture and  feeling. 

It  is  indeed  among  the  females  of  our 
island  that  this  inattention  is  most  observa- 


93 

ble :  to  use  the  language  of  an  elegant 
writer,  Wherever  the  enchantress  Fashion 
waves  her  wand,  they  are  compelled  to  ex- 
pose themselves,  half  undressed,  to  the  in- 
fluence of  fog  and  frost ;  thus  sacrificing 
health  and  personal  comfort  to  mistaken 
ideas  of  elegance. 

Woollen,  as  an  article  of  female  attire, 
seems  now  to  be  universally  laid  aside ; 
every  part  of  fashionable  dress  being  equally 
permeable  to  the  keen  air.  Motives  of 
delicacy,  as  well  as  regard  for  health,  have 
been  repeatedly  urged  in  vain  to  enforce 
the  necessity  of  relinquishing  these  de- 
structive  habits^ ;    the  arguments  of  the 

*  On  the  subject  of  female  dress,  vide  a  pamphlet 
entitled,  "  Remarks  on  Modern  Female  Manners, 


94 

moralist,  and  of  the  physician,  having  alike 
failed  to  convey  conviction ;  and  hundreds, 
v^ho  would  now  have  shone  forth  among 
the  loveliest  of  their  sex,  have  been  dressed 
in  shrouds,  because,  '*  in  an  evil  hour, 
they  laid  aside  those  parts  of  their  apparel 
which  health,  as  well  as  decency,  forbade 
them  to  relinquish*. " 

as  distinguished  by  Indifference  for  Character,  and 
Indecency  of  Dress," 

*  The  pernicious  influence  of  the  modern  passion 
for  light  clothings  "  so  prevalent  among  all  ranks, 
and  so  imsuitable  to  different  constitutions,'*  cannot 
be  more  strikingly  exemplified  than  in  the  case  of 
the  lower  order  of  inhabitants,  in  different  parts  of 
Scotland.  In  this  part  of  our  island,  colds  were  ex- 
tremely rare,  and  consumptions  seldom  met  with, 
until  the  extension  of  commerce  pushed  the  goods 
manufactured  at  Manchester  into  the  farthest  re- 
cesses of  Great  Britain ;  but  after  the  period  when 


95 

There  are  two  parts  of  the  body  which 
are  more  especially  liable  to  receive  the  ill 
impressions  of  cold,  and  communicate  them 
to  the  rest ;  these  are  the  feet  and  chest ; 
and,  in  the  delicate  and  susceptible,  if  fa- 
shion is  conceded  to  in  other  respects,  these 
at  least  should  be  defended  with  the  utmost 
care  (12).  The  most  effectual  method  of 
doing  this,  is  to  cover  them  with  substances 
which  conduct  heat  the  slowest,  such  as 
flannel,  fleecy  hosiery,  and  woollen  of  every 
description. 

The  wearing  of  woollen  next  to  the  skin 

the  "  thick,  warm  Scottish  plaiding  was  relinquished 
for  the  fine,  cold  English  cloth,"  these  disorders  be- 
came extremely  rife,  and  are  now,  perhaps,  even 
more  frequent  than  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  is- 
land.     Vide  Statistical  Reports,  vol.  2.fi.  427. 


96 

has  been  objected  to  by  some  writers  upon 
plausible  grounds;  but  experience,  the  only- 
criterion  by  which  our  judgment  should  be 
influenced,  has  authorized  us  in  consider- 
ing  it  not  only  as  the  most  effectual  preser- 
vative against  cold,  but  as  in  every  other 
respect  salutary  to  the  constitution*  (13). 

*  "  Those  officers  and  soldiers  who  wore  flannel 
waistcoats  next  to  their  skins  not  only  escaped  colds, 
but  dysenteries,  and  other  contagious  disorders; 
while  those  that  wore  none  were  soon  carried  off  by 
the  diseases  so  commonly  fatal  in  camps."  Dr.  Rush. 
See  Dr.  Moseley's  Observations  on  Clothing,  in  his 
Treatise  on  Tropical  Diseases.  The  use  of  flannel 
in  early  life  has  been  objected  to  by  Dr.  Hufeland, 
and  upon  reasonable  grounds  {Med.  and  Phys. 
Journal,  \.fu  40.  et  seg.)  ;  but  if  it  were  worn  by 
every  young  person  from  the  age  of  fifteen  to  twen- 
ty-six, consumptions,  I  am  convinced,  would  soon 
diminish  in  frequency.     Fleecy  hosiery  has  of  late 


97 

The  unpleasant  sensation  at  first  excited  by 
woollen  applied  to  the  skin  will  soon  be 
found  to  wear  off,  and  it  is  a  well-known 
fact,  that  it  not  only  preserves  the  warmth 
of  the  body  in  winter,  but  renders  the  part 
it  covers  more  sensibly  cool  in  summer,  by 
absorbing  the  cutaneous  perspiration*  (14). 

been  much  employed;  and  it  appears  to  possess 
many  advantages  over  common  flannel.  See  a 
pamphlet  on  the  use  of  Fleecy  Hosiery,  by  Dr, 
Buchan. 

*  The  manufacturers  in  the  different  founderies  of 
Birmingham,  as  well  as  at  the  iron  works  at  Cole- 
brook-dale  and  Kettley,  in  the  most  intense  heats, 
wear  no  other  than  flannel  shirts :  without  these  it 
would  be  impossible  for  them  to  prevent  frequent 
colds  and  the  most  fatal  diseases.  The  salubrity  of 
woollen,  from  its  pov/er  of  absorption,  is  also  amply 
proved  by  the  experiments  of  count  Rumford  (15). 
1 


98 

While,  however,  we  are  thus  careful  to 
guard  against  the  morbid  influence  of  cold, 
hy  accommodating  our  dress  to  the  weather, 
we  should  be  equally  cautious  not  to  run 
into  the  opposite  extreme  ;  too  much  cloth- 
ing produces  a  delicacy  of  frame,  that  dis- 
poses no  less  to  disease  than  an  imprudent 
disregard  of  necessary  covering^. 

3.  It  has  been  before  observed,  that  the 
action  of  cold  upon  the  human  body,  unless 
it  be  either  extreme  in  degree,  or  impro- 

*  Dr.  Willich  proposes  the  adopting  a  general 
dress  for  all  seasons.  He  observes,  "  As  thin  clothes 
are  more  immediately  pervaded  by  heat,  during  the 
least  exercise,  it  certainly  would  be  more  prudent 
and  rational  to  wear  a  dress  that  is  calculated  to 
withstand  the  effects  both  of  heat  and  cold."  In  a 
more  equable  climate,  perhaps,  this  might  be  prac- 
ticable. 


99 

perly  or  incautiously  applied,  is  seldom 
productive  of  any  bad  effects ;  for  the  ani- 
mal frame,  supported  by  its  inherent  heat, 
can  bear  a  very  considerable  diminution  of 
temperature  without  injury.  It  has  also 
already  been  seen,  that,  in  order  to  produce 
catarrh,  and  other  inflammatory  diseases,  it 
is  necessary  that  its  action  should  be  rather 
on  the  one  hand  excessive  or  long  continu- 
ed, or  on  the  other  sudden,  or  happening 
under  such  peculiarity  of  circumstances  as 
particularly  dispose  the  body  to  be  suscep- 
tible of  its  operation*.  Hence  we  may  lay 
down  the  following  rules  :  namely, 

1st.  When  over- heated,  more  particular- 
ly at  a  time  when  inordinate  heat  of  body 

*  Vide  page  59. 


100 

« 

is  combined  with  perspiration,  never  expose 
yourself  suddenly  to  the  action  of  a  low 
temperature*. 

*  It  has  been  asserted,  by  some  late  writers,  that 
the  transition  from  heat  to  cold  would  never  be  fol- 
lowed by  ill  effects,  if  the  succeeding  change  from 
cold  to  natural  warmth  were  gradual  and  properly 
conducted,  but,  in  the  greater  number  of  catarrhs, 
the  inflammation  is  not  produced  by  the  abuse  of 
external  heat,  but  by  an  increased  exertion  of  the 
native  calorific  powers,  subsequent  to  the  state  of 
chill,  and  which  no  precaution  will  be  sufficient  to 
prevent.  The  popular  opinion,  that  the  mischief 
arising  from  changes  of  temperature  depends  upon 
the  sudden  transition  from  great  degrees  of  heat  to 
cold  is  certainly  founded  in  error :  it  seems  indeed 
to  be  an  established  truth,  that,  from  whatever  cause 
the  heat  of  the  body  is  increased,  in  proportion  to 
this  increase  is  the  safety  with  which  cold  may  be 
applied;  provided  it  be  applied /rce/t/,  and  before 


101 

2dly,  After  having  been  chilled  by  cold, 
applied  under  any   of  the   circumstances 

the  heat  begins  to  decline.  Of  this  we  have  a  proof 
in  the  experiments  of  Dr.  Fordyce,  sir  Ch.  Blagden, 
and  others,  in  which  these  gentlemen  frequently 
passed  from  a  room  heated  to  200  degrees  and  up* 
wards  into  the  cold  air  with  perfect  safety.  Vide 
Philosofihical  Transactions^  vol.  Ixv.  ^.111  and  4S4. 
The  same  fact  is  also  established  by  the  common  cus- 
tom which  the  inhabitants  of  Russia  have,  of  first  bath- 
ing in  water  heated  to  as  high  a  degree  as  the  body 
can  bear,  and  immediately  afterwards  rolling  them- 
selves in  snow.  But  it  appears  equally  certain,  that 
the  greater  the  heat  of  the  body,  the  more  suscepti- 
ble it  is  of  the  morbid  impression  of  cold,  applied 
under  those  particular  circumstances  which  forms 
its  operation ;  or,  in  other  words,  than  the  triple 
succession  of,  first,  heat,  more  especially  if  accom- 
panied with  fatigue  of  body ;  secondly,  the  modifica- 
tion of  cold  before  mentioned ;  thirdly,  heat,  either 
I  2 


102 

above  mentioned,  be  careful  to  restore  the 
natural  heat  of  the  body  by  gentle  degrees ; 
by  either  first  going  into  a  room  which  has 
no  fire  in  it,  or  by  keeping,  for  a  consider- 
able time,  at  a  distance  from  the  fire,  until 
you  acquire  your  natural  warmth  and  state 
of  feeling  (17). 

3dly.  After  having  been  exposed  to  se- 
vere cold,  be  cautious  to  abstain  from  the 
immediate  use  of  warm  or  stimulating  li- 
quids (17). 

artificial  or  natural,  is  most  likely  to  be  productive 
of  catarrh  and  other  inflammatory  diseases.  Vide 
Beddoes*  Hygeia^  -vol.  2,  ess,  1. 


103 

II.  The  application  of  chemical  or  me' 
chanical  stimuli  to  the  mucous  mem* 
hrane  which  lines  the  air  passages. 

Under  this  head  I  include  sudden 
changes  in  the  stimulating  quality  of  the  at- 
mosphere, and  the  inhaling  of  certain  ex- 
traneous stimuli  with  the  common  air. 

The  breathing  of  an  innumerable  multi- 
tude of  animals,  together  with  the  various 
processes  of  combustion  and  putrefaction, 
incessantly  in  action,  are  continually  dimi- 
nishing the  quantity  of  pure  or  vital  air 
contained  in  the  atmosphere,  which,  in  all 
probability,  would  long  since  have  become 
too  impure  for  the  support  of  life,  had  not 
the  all-wise  Author  of  Nature  provided  for 


104 

its  continual  re-production,  by  means 
equally  simple  and  admirable — the  decom- 
position of  water  by  the  vegetable  king- 
dom. 

The  numerous  tribes  of  vegetables,  scat- 
tered every  where  over  the  earth,  absorb 
water  and  air,  both  from  the  ground  and 
ambient  atmosphere  ;  and,  by  the  action  of 
their  various  glands,  reduce  it  to  its  ori- 
ginal principles  ;  namely,  oxygeriy  or  pure 
air,  and  hydrogen^    or  inflammable   air^. 

*  "  Water,  according  to  the  opinions  of  modem 
chemists,  is  a  compound  fluid,  made  up  of  two  sub- 
stances, neither  of  which  can  be  exhibited  sepa- 
rately, except  in  the  gaseous  form ;  and,  when  aeri- 
form, they  are  known,  the  one  as  hydrogen  gas,  or  in- 
flammable air,  the  other  as  oxygen  gas^  or  vital  air. 
These  gasses,  in  the  proportion  of  about  three  of 


105 

The  former  of  these  they  breathe  out  in  a 
state  of  great  purity,  from  the  innumerable 
air  vessels,  scattered  over  the  surface  of 
their  leaves ;  and,  contrary  to  what  happens 
with  animals,  they  take  the  latter  for  their 
own  nourishment  (18). 

The  more  the  atmosphere  abounds  with 
vital  air,  the  more  it  is  stimulating  to  the 
animal  frame,  and  vice  versa.  Now,  from 
what  has  been  said  above,  it  is  evident  that 
wherever  combustion  and  respiration  are 
performed  upon  a  large  scale,  as  in  popu- 
lous towns,  there  the  air  must  be  propor- 
tionately less  pure,  and  in  consequence  less 

hydrogen  to  eleven  of  oxygen^  when  united,  and  re- 
duced from  the  form  ef  an  air  to  that  of  a  liquid  (as 
may  be  done  artificially  by  means  of  the  electric 
fluid),  constitute  the  fluid,  water. 


106 

Stimulating ;  and  that,  on  the  contipary, 
wherever  vegetation  is  most  luxuriant,  it 
must  contain  a  larger  portion  of  oxygen, 
or  stimulating  principle  (19), 

The  eflfect  which  this  difference  in  the 
quality  of  the  atmosphere  has  upon  the  hu- 
man body,  is  often  the  subject  of  common 
observation ;  but  it  has  not,  I  believe,  been 
generally  observed,  that  the  transition  from 
a  less  to  a  more  stimulating  air  will  pro* 
duce  an  actual  state  of  catarrh  :  that  it  oc- 
casionally does  so,  however,^  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  It  is  very  common  for  a  person 
who  has  long  breathed  only  the  contami- 
nated atmosphere  of  a  large  city,  upon  go- 
ing, into  the  country,  to  be  seized  with  a 
stuffing  of  the  head,  hoarseness,  heat  and 
dryness  of  skin^,  and  other  symptoms  of 


107 

violent  cold :  which  is  generally  ascribed  to 
some  other  cause.  This,  however,  is 
more  frequently  the  case  with  children, 
whose  mucous  membrane  is  sensible  to 
every  cause  of  irritation  (20). 

Upon  my  accidentally  mentioning  this 
occasional  cause  of  catarrh,  upon  a  visit  to 
a  family  I  am  in  the  habit  of  attending,  a 
lady  present  related  to  me  the  following 
remarkable  case,  which  occurred  to  tvvo  of 
her  own  children,  the  one  a  boy  about  four 
years  old,  the  other  a  girl  about  two  years 
older ;  both  of  delicate  and  sickly  habit. 
As  business  compelled  her  to  reside  in  one 
of  the  closest  parts  of  the  town,  she  consi- 
xlered  an  occasional  change  of  air  necessary 
to  the  improvement  of  their  health,  and 
had  usually  sent  them,  once  a  month,  to 


108 

spend  a  few  days  ^vith  a  relation  at  Hamp. 
stead,  where  they  might  breathe  a  purer 
atmosphere ;  but  almost  as  constantly  as 
she  did  so,  so  surely  did  they  become  the 
subjects  of  cough  and  other  symptoms 
of  cold ;  which  often  continued  for  se- 
veral days  after  their  return  to  town.  This 
cuxumstance  she  had,  until  then,  attri- 
buted to  a  supposed  exposure  to  cold,  or 
humid  air.  I  convinced  her,  however,  of 
the  contrary,  by  advising  her  to  send  the 
children,  for  an  hour,  every  day,  to  the 
outskirts  of  the  town ;  and,  in  consequence 
of  adopting  this  plan,  she  has  since  in- 
formed me,  their  periodical  visits  to  Hamp- 
steadhave  been  made  with  perfect  impunity. 

This  is  one  grand  reason  v^^hy^the  chil- 
dren of  those  who  are  obliged  to  reside 


109 

constantly  in  large  and  crowded  towns, 
should  be  daily  sent  into  the  country,  or  at 
least  to  such  a  situation  as  will  enable  them 
to  breathe  an  air  of  a  little  more  purity; 
by  which  means  they  will  not  only  avoid 
suffering  from  every  change  of  air,  but  will 
also  acquire  a  rosy  bloom,  in  vain  looked 
for  among  the  puny,  delicate  little  beings, 
who  are  constantly  confined  within  a  highly 
contaminated  atmosphere. 

Any  irritating  matter,  of  whatever  de- 
scription, received  into  the  air  passages, 
will,  in  the  irritable,  produce  a  genuine 
catarrh.  Such  are  various  stimuli  which  are 
occasionally  applied  to  the  nostrils  or  wind- 
pipe, either  purposely  or  accidentally.  Two 
of  the  most  violent  and  most  speedily  fatal 
cases  from  catarrhal  affections  I  ever  met 

K 


no 

with  arose  from  this  cause ;  the  one  occurred 
in  a  young  girl  who  had  been  employed 
in  picking  of  feathers  ;  the  other  was  in  an 
elderly  female,  into  whose  snuif-box  a  little 
wag  had  slily  introduced  some  powdered 
hellebore.  A  slight  catarrh  is  by  no  means 
unfrequently  produced  by  a  person  taking 
a  pinch  of  snuff,  who  is  not  a  habitual 
snuff- taker.  This  has  been  observed  per- 
haps  by  every  one ;  but  in  some  instances 
the  symptoms  produced  by  this  cause  rise 
to  so  high  a  degree,  as  to  require  a  medical 
regimen,  of  which  I  have  known  several 
instances,  and  have  heard  of  many  similar 
ones,  in  which  the  same  effect  ensued  from 
the  inspiring  of  ammonia,  aromatic  vinegar, 
and  other  diffusible  stimuli*. 

*  "  I  am  acquainted,"  says  Dr.  Beddoes,  "  with  a 
person  in  whom  a  pinch  of  ordinary  snuff  will  pro- 


Ill 

But  it  is  not  often,  except,  indeed,  when 
the  more  subtle  particles  of  dust  are  held 
buoyant,  that  we  are  liable  to  breathe  an  air 
impregnated  with  every  consequential  ex- 
traneous matter^.     This  is  a  fate,  happily 

duce  sneezing  in  the  first  place,  and  afterwards  a 
genuine  catarrh."  Hygeia,  ess.  7. p..  34.  A  case 
is  related  by  Dr.  Fourcroy  of  an  apothecary,  at  Ar- 
gentan,  in  whom  a  fatal  cough  was  excited  by  the 
fumes  arising  from  the  materials  employed  for 
making  liver  of  antimony.  M.  Morveau,  Vauquelin, 
and  others,  describe  the  effect  of  inspiring  the  oxy- 
genated muriatic  acid  gas  to  have  been  a  severe 
cough,  sneezing,  and  other  symptoms  in  every  re- 
spect resembling  common  cold.  Vide  Moyeiis  dc 
desinfecter  fair.  Several  other  active  gasses  and 
chemical  fumes  have  the  same  effect  (21). 

*  Vide    Weikard,  verm.  schz.  II.  ji.  185-  /.j/z.  I. 
The  odour  of  roses,  and  other  fiovv^ers,  is  said  to 


112 

almost  peculiar  to  artizans  who  are  constant- 
ly under  the  influence  of  an  atmosphere, 
filled  with  irritating  particles  of  minerals, 
or  vegetable  filaments ;  the  consequence  of 
their  inhaling  which  is  a  perpetual  recur- 
rence of  symptoms  perfectly  analogous  to 
common  cold,  and,  at  no  distant  period,  a 
confirmed  and  fatal  disease  of  the  lungs*'. 

have  produced  catarrh  (Ephem.  nat.  cur.  dec.  II. 
and  5.  ob.  22);  and  from  the  account  of  Ramazzini, 
Morgagni,  and  some  other  writers,  we  are  led  t© 
believe,  that  the  breathing  of  a  dusty  atmosphere 
not  only  proves  an  occasional  cause  of  coughs,  but 
has  in  some  instances  had  the  effect  of  applying  such 
an  irritation  to  the  lungs,  as  to  produce  a  fatal  tuber- 
c!ular  inflammation. 

*  Vide  what  was  said  on  this  subject  when  speak- 
ing of  an  irritable  state  of  the  lungs  as  predisposing 
to  catarrh^  fi,  32. 


113 


III.    The  application   of  moisture    to   the 
whole  or  part  of  the  body. 

The  operation  of  moisture  upon  the  liv- 
ing body  is  singular  and  difficult  to  ex- 
plain :  but,  that  it  does  often  produce  the 
worst  consequences,  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
although  the  contrary  opinion  has  been  en- 
tertained by  a  most  respectable  and  experi- 
enced physician^  (22). 

I  believe  it  is  the  common  idea,  that 
moisture  operates  in  the  production  of  ca- 
tarrh, either  in  consequence  of  its  be- 
ing combined  with  a  very  diminished 
temperature,    or   by  producing  a  state  of 

"  Dr.  Heberden.  ^ee  Medical  Transactions^  voL  2, 
IL  2 


114 

ehill,  or  sensible  cold.  That  this  is  most 
frequently  the  case  is  clear;  but  it  is 
equally  certain,  that  darnp^  or  moisture, 
will  lay  the  foundation  for  inflammatory 
action,  without  being  combined  with  actual 
cold;  and  that  the  same  effect  will  be  pro- 
duced  by  cold^  without  any  combination 
with  moisture.  The  latter  proves  equally 
noxious  when  applied  above  the  medium 
warmth,  and  where  no  subsequent  evapo- 
ration can  take  place  from  the  surface  of 
the  body,  to  reduce  its  temperature.  In 
the  case  of  catarrh,  or  other  disorders  aris- 
ing from  the  sleeping  in  damp  sheets,  the 
person,  upon  getting  into  bed,  usually  feels 
no  very  uncomfortable  sensation  of  cold; 
he  soon  acquires  the  usual  genial  heat  of 
the  bed,  and  falls  into  the  state  of  sleep ; 
but,  in  the  morning,  awakes  with  a  con- 


115 

fused  perception  of  disorder,  which,  in  the 
course  of  the  succeeding  day,  puts  on  a 
characteristic  form ;  here  the  appUcation  of 
moisture  is  neither  accompanied  nor  suc- 
ceeded by  positive  cold.  So,  hkewise, 
when  a  person  of  a  susceptible  pulmonary 
system  is  exposed  to  a  fog,  or  an  atmo- 
sphere loaded  with  watery  particles,  the 
temperature  of  the  air  with  which  he  is 
surrounded  may  be  even  grateful  to  his 
feelings,  and  yet  he  will  probably  soon  be- 
gin to  sneeze,  and  shortly  afterwards  expe- 
rience all  the  other  incipient  symptoms  of 
catarrh. 

Moisture  appears  to  operate  in  the  pro- 
duction of  catarrh,  in  the  same  way  as 
cold,  by  proving  a  sedative  ;  but,  in  order 
to  its  sedative  operation,  it  seems  necessary 


116 

that  the  particles  of  water  be  extremely  mi- 
nute, and  spread  over  a  large  extent  of  sur- 
face. This  is  the  case  when  the  body  is 
exposed  to  the  influence  of  a  moist  at- 
mosphere, or  where  moist  linen  is  applied 
to  the  whole  or  any  susceptible  part  of  it, 
or  where  any  part  of  dress,  after  having 
been  wetted,  is  suffered  to  remain  un- 
changed, and  to  dry  upon  the  part*  (23). 

The  feet  are  most  liable  to  receive  the 
impressions  of  damp,  as  they  are  of  cold  ; 
hence  one  of  the  most  frequent  causes  of 

*  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  damp,  created  by 
pure  water,  is  more  injurious  than  that  arising  from 
water  in  v/hich  salt  has  been  dissolved.  This  is 
well  known  to  seafaring  men,  who  get  wet  with  im- 
punity with  sea  water,  but  are  extremely  liable  to 
catarrh,  rheumatisin,  &:c.,  kc,  from  exposure  to  the 


117 

catarrh  is  getting  wet  in  the  feet ;  which  it 
is  of  importance  for  those  who  are  liable  to 
the  complaint  to  guard  against,  by  the 
means  before  recommended. 


IV.    Certain   intemperaries   of  the   atmo- 
sphere, independent  of  its  sensible  qualities* 

The  chemical  composition  of  the  air 
which  we  breathe  is  now  well  known ; 
but,  besides  those  properties  which  are  dis- 
coverable by  the  assistance  of  particular 

rain.  Probably  the  salt  may  stimulate  the  vessels 
of  the  skin  in  some  way  that  counteracts  the  seda- 
tive and  debilitating  action  of  the  moisture.  Vide 
Dr.  Currie's  (of  Liverpool)  very  interesting  account 
of  the  effect  of  cold  and  moisture  upon  some  ship- 
wrecked mariners.     Reports,  vol.  L 


lis 

instruments)  it  abounds  with  subtle  agents, 
which,  although  not  cognizable  by  our 
senses,  yet  have  the  power  to  effect  the 
most  important  changes  in  the  animal  frame. 
Certain  it  is,  that  the  atmosphere,  notwith- 
standing the  endismetrical  properties  and 
sensible  quaUties  remain  the -same,  has,  at 
different  times,  very  different  effects  on  man, 
and  renders,  by  its  peculiar  constitution, 
certain  diseases  predominant  for  months, 
and  even  years,  without  any  proof  of  their 
arising  from  contagion,  or  proceeding  from 
any  other  assignable  cause. 

Of  the  complaints  which  are  thus  occa- 
sionally prevalent,  independent  of  w  eat  her  y 
and  under  the  most  apparently  healthy  state 
of  atmosphere,  none  is  so  frequent  as  r^itorr/z. 
We  can  only  account  for  this  difference 


119 

in  the  efFects  of  the  air  which  surrounds  us, 
by  supposing  it  to  depend  upon  the  mode 
and  degree  of  combination  of  its  ingredients. 
It  has  been  imagined,  that  **  the  particular 
electric  state  of  air,  as  connected  with  Gal^ 
vanic  injluence,  may  have  considerable 
power  in  occasioning  healthy  or  morbid 
efFects  from  the  atmosphere*." 

Other  exciting  causes  of  catarrh  have 
been  enumerated  by  authors,  but  they  are, 
perhaps,  still  less  determinafelef. 

After  enumerating  its  various  causes,  I 

*  Vide  Syllabus  of  a  course  of  lectures^  read  at 
Guy's  hosfiital^  by  Dr.  Babingioii  and  Dr.  Curric 
(of  Liverpool). 

t  Vide  IVillich  Diss,  de  frequcnti  catarrhoruvi  S 
firwiis  -ciis  origine  Goef,  1777, 


120 

now  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the 
means  recommended  to  be  employed  for 
the  cure  of  catarrh.  These  are  more  va- 
rious, perhaps,  than  in  any  other  complaint. 
It  is  a  disorder,  indeed,  in  which,  in  conse- 
quence of  its  very  great  prevalence  among 
all  classes  of  people,  the  generality  of  indi- 
viduals, in  applying  the  means  of  cure,  are 
of  necessity  their  own  physicians,  and  al- 
most every  one  has  his  particular  plan  of 
treatment.  No  less  a  diversity  prevails 
among  medical  men ;  their  opinions  and 
practice  varying  with  the  diiferent  ideas  en- 
tertained, at  diflPerent  times,  and  by  differ- 
ent physicians,  with  regard  to  the  origin  of 
the  disorder. 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  humeral  pa- 
thology  from  the  schools  of  medicine,  the 


121 

idea  long  entertained  of  the  nature  of  this 
disease  was,  that  it  originated  in  a  sudden 
suppression  of  perspiration,  and  spasm ^  or 
stricture  upon  the  orifices  of  the  perspira- 
tory vessels,  consequent  upon  the  action  of 
cold  applied  to  the  surface  of  the  body ; 
which  it  was  necessary  to  resolve,  in  order 
to  the  solution  of  the  complaint.  Under 
this  idea,  the  means  which  naturally  sug- 
gested themselves  were,  external  wannth, 
the  free  use  of  diaphoretics^  and  a  large 
proportion  of  warm  aqueous  diluents. 

And  although  the  doctrine  of  spasm  is 
now  almost  universally  exploded,  yet  the 
practice  it  gave  rise  to  still  continues  to  be 
that  most  commonly  employed.  Within 
these  few  late  years,  however,  since  im- 
provements in  physiology  have  thrown  more 


122 

light  upon  the  nature  of  disease,  a  mode  of 
treatment,  precisely  the  reverse  of  the 
former,  has  been  suggested  in  theory,  and, 
in  some  instances,  reduced  to  practice. 
This  consists  in  attempting  to  remove  the 
inflammatory  action  v^^hich  constitutes  the 
disorder,  by  the  application  of  external  cold. 
This,  I  believe  (as  far  as  relates  to  catarrh), 
had  its  origin  in  the  particular  opinions  en- 
tertained by  Dr.  John  Brovi^n,  but  it  has 
since  been  taken  up  and  recommended  by 
several  writers  on  domestic  medicine*  (24). 

The  chief  of  the  plans  of  cure,  therefore, 
recommended  by  authors,  are  diametrically 
opposite.  By  one  class  of  writers,  the  pa- 
tient is  enjoined  to  a  strict  confinement  to 

*  Brnnmna  Elem.  MedicincCy  vnl.  Yl.fi.  42.  et  seg. 


123 

the  house,  to  guard  carefully  against  the  in- 
fluence of  external  cold,  by  warm  clothing, 
and  by  the  use  of  warm  relaxing  liquids. 
By  the  other,  on  the  contrary,  he  is  recom- 
mended to  a  free  exposure  to  external  cold, 
by  remaining  in  an  atmosphere  of  **  a  tem- 
perature little  exceeding  that  by  which  the 
complaint  was  induced;"  to  diminish  his 
clothing,  and  to  abstain  from  the  taking  of 
any  thing  warm. 

Amid  such  a  contrariety  of  opinion, 
how  is  the  invalid,  who  usually  collects 
the  little  knowled2:e  of  medicine  he  mav 
happen  to  possess  from  popular  writings, 
to  be  influenced  in  forming  his  judgment 
of  the  propriety  of  adopting  the  one,  in 
preference  to  the  other  ? 


124 

.  The  absurdity  of  increasing  the  heat  of 
the  body,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  an  inflam- 
mation actually  going  on  in  a  part  of  it, 
need  not  be  insisted  upon.  It  must  be 
obvious  to  every  one  who  has  duly  con- 
sidered the  nature  of  the  disorder,  and  the 
mode  of  operation  of  the  causes  that  in- 
duce it,  that  such  a  plan  of  treatment  is, 
of  all  others,  most  calculated  to  render  it 
as  severe  as  possible.  The  opposite  prac- 
tice, however,  or  the  diminishing  the  tem- 
perature of  the  body  in  general,  in  order  to 
abstract  heat,  and  consequently  diminish 
inflammatory  action  in  a  particular  part,  is 
hardly  less  objectionable  (25).    . 

Of  all  the  improvements  which  have 
been  made,  for  many  years,  in  the  practice 
of  medicine,  the  introduction  of  the  use  of 


125 

external  cold  in  the  treatment  of  acute  dis- 
eases may,  perhaps,  be  regarded  as  the 
greatest  and  most  important.  The  theory 
upon  which  it  is  founded  is  rational,  and 
the  practice  it  has  led  to  has  been  attended 
with  the  most  happy  eifects.  In  Jhvers,  in- 
Jiammationsy  and  eruptive  disordeis,  it  has 
restored  thousands  that  would  otherwise 
have  sunk  under  the  influence  of  disease ; 
and,  perhaps,  in  the  whole  catalogue  of  in- 
flammatory or  febrile  affections,  there  is 
one  only  in  which  its  free  and  extensive 
use  is  inadmissible :  this  is  the  disease 
w^hich  forms  the  subject  of  the  present 
essay  (26). 

Of  nothing  am  I  more  firmly  convinced, 
than,  were   the  idea  to   become   general, 
that  nothing  more  is  necessary,  in  order  to 
l2 


126 

cure  a  cold,  than  to  expose  the  body  afresh 
to  a  low  temperature,  the  death  of  those 
who  adopted  it  would  be  the  most  frequent 
consequence :  either  the  original  mischief 
would  be  often  spread  wider,  or  the  foun- 
dation would  be  laid  for  other  diseases, 
more  consequential  than  that  which  was 
thus  sought  to  be  removed. 

Unfortunately,  tlieory,  in  the  treatment 
of  this  complaint,  cannot  with  safety  be  re- 
duced to  practice.  If  it  were  in  our  pow- 
er to  apply  the  remedy  immediately,  and 
only  to  the  surface  of  the  inflamed  mem- 
brane, it  is  probable  tlaat  nothing  more  than 
the  repeated  local  application  of  cold  would 
be  necessary,  in  order  to  cure  the  most  se- 
vere catarrh  :  but  this  is  impracticable ;  we 
can  only  apply  cold  to  the  pulmonary  sys- 


127 

tern,  through  the  medium  of  the  air,  in 
which  case  not  only  every  part  of  the  mem- 
brane lining  the  bronchi  as,  but  also  the 
whole  of  the  body,  must  be  equally  sub- 
jected to  its  influence,  and,  in  consequence, 
the  remedy^,  carried  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
be  efl&cient  in  diminishing  the  inflamma- 
tion, would  be  as  likely  to  induce  a  fresh 
disease,  subsequently,  in  another  part,  as  to 
remove  the  original*. 

*  It  is  with  due  deference  to  the  opinion  of  Dr. 
Beddoes,  that  I  differ  so  widely  from  him  in  opinion 
on  the  present  subject.  The  following  are  his  ob- 
servations on  the  treatment  of  colds : 

"  Cool  treatment  is  just  as  necessary  to  prevent 
catarrh  as  to  mitigate  the  small  pox:  the  analogy 
of  frozen  limbs  should  be  strictly  followed.  We 
cannot,  indeed,  rub  the  nostrils,  and  the  continuation 
ef  the  mucous  membrane,  with  snow  or  cold  water ; 


128 

I  have  not  been  led  to  the  foregoing  re- 
marks by  mere  theory  :  various  cases  that 

but  we  can  do  what  amounts  exactly  to  the  same 
thing,  we  can  keep  an  atmosphere,  not  much  exceed- 
ing in  temperature  that  by  which  these  parts  have 
been  chilled,  traversing  them  for  any  length  of 
time." — "  When  the  dryness  in  the  nostrils,  the 
huskiness  in  the  throat,  and  other  feelings  denoting 
the  commencement  of  catarrh,  have  arisen  from  the 
chill  of  a  distant  part,  the  same  expedient  will  be 
equally  proper  for  precaution  and  mitigation." — 
«  The  effect  of  continuing  for  a  time  in  a  low  tempe- 
rature, after  a  chill  of  the  mucous  membrane,  may  be 
materially  assisted  by  drinking  cold  water ;  and  where 
there  is  a  strong  propensity  to  catarrh,  the  food 
should  be  taken  cold,  and  all  warm  and  heating  liquids 
should  be  carefully  avoided  for  the  day." — "  In  an 
incipient  catarrh,  those  who  continue  moving  in 
the  cold  for  some  hours  will  find  it  greatly  reduced 
if  not  entirely  taken  off;  but  they  must  not  after- 
wards heat  themselves ;  they  may  sit,  at  times,  as  well 


129  * 

have  fallen  within  my  own  immediate  ob- 
servation have  amply  confirmed  their  jus- 
tice. I  will  only  beg  leave,  however,  to 
relate  the  following,  of  the  circumstances 
attending  which  I  v/as  an  eye-witness.  A 
gentleman,  about  the  middle  age,  and  of  the 
sanguineous  temperament,  who  had  been 
extremely  subject  to  severe  colds,  upon 
reading  a  remarkable  instance  of  the  good 
eifects  of  this  refrigerating  mode  of  treat- 
ment*, resolved  to  imitate  it  in  his  own 

as  walk ;  covering  the  extremities  so  as  to  prevent 
them  from  being  chilled.  The  object  is  to  apply  a 
cool  medium"  to  the  inflamed  mucous  membrane. 
— "  It  is  probable  that  giving  up  a  single  night's 
sleep  would  be  attended  with  the  happiest  effect,  in 
such  cases." 

*  West  country  contributions. — A  boy  in  the  ser- 
%'ice  of  Dr.  Hamilton,  of  Ipswich,  with  a  considerable 


130 

ease.  He  had,  in  former  colds,  been  ac- 
customed to  employ  the  common  warm, 

cough,  and  febrile  heat,  played  the  truant  one  even- 
ing in  February,  1797,  and  passed  the  whole  night 
walking  or  sitting  in  the  streets.  The  night  was 
the  coldest  of  that  season,  the  thermometer,  at  seven 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  standing  at  10  degrees 
below  the  freezing  point.  As  the  boy's  complaint 
was  somewhat  alarming.  Dr.  Hamilton  felt  consider- 
able uneasiness  lest  it  should  increase,  from  his 
being  first  heated,  as  he  presumed,  by  play,  and 
then  suddenly  cooled  by  the  frost :  but,  during  the 
interrogation  he  underwent  next  morning,  it  was  ob- 
served he  did  not  once  cough,  although,  in  the  same 
space  of  time  before,  the  cough  would  have  often 
harrassed  him,  and  interrupted  his  narrative.  "  I 
watched  him  narrowly,"*  observes  Dr.  Hamilton, 
"  as  I  apprehended  a  fever  might  be  the  conse- 
quence of  his  midnight  ramble;  but  here  I  was 
agreeably  disappointed,  for,  in  place  of  fever,  his 


131 

relaxing  plan  :  which  usually  failed  in  miti- 
gating their  severity,  or  shortening  their 
duration*  Accordingly,  upon  the  next  at- 
tack, instead  of  confining  himself  to  his 
arm  chair,  in  the  chimney  corner,  increasing 
his  clothing,  and  drinking  water-gruel  as 
usual,  he  betook  himself  to  a  room  without 
a  fire,  threw  open  the  window,  and  remain- 
ed for  some  hours  walking  about,  freely 
exposed  to  a  February  air.  The  conse- 
quence was  an  immediate  and  severe  attack 
of  pneumonia  (inflammation  of  the  lungs), 
which  cost  him  his  life. 

I  would  not  wish  it  to  be  understood, 
that  the  treatment  I  object  to,  as  a  general 
plan  of  cure,  is  uniformly  pernicious.     It 

catarrh  was  cured,  his  cough  ceased,  and  never  af» 
tcrwards  returned.'* 


132 

is  not  the  nature  of  the  remedy,  but  its 
abuse,  that  I  deprecate.  On  the  contrary, 
much  attentive  observation  has  convinced 
me,  that,  when  employed  with  a  due  degree 
of  circumspection,  and  with  the  hmitations 
I  shall  presently  prescribe,  it  forms  the 
basis  of  the  only  mode  of  treatment  that  can 
be  depended  upon  for  the  successful  remo- 
val of  the  disease  in  its  incipient  state  ;  and 
experience  of  its  good  effects  has  enabled 
me  confidently  to  recommend  it  in  every 
case  of  recent  inflammatory  catarrh*  (27). 

The  means  to  be  employed  in  the  cure 
of  this  complaint  naturally  fall  under  the 

*  None  of  the  observations  contained  in  the  pre- 
sent essay  apply  to  that  species  of  catarrh  incident 
to  old  people,  usually  called  chro7iicy  or  atonic  cO' 
tarrk. 


133 

V 

heads  of— 1,  Temperature^ — 2,  Diet^ — and 
3,  Medicine. 

I.  Upon  the  accession  of  the  symptoms 
indicating  the  commencement  of  the  dis- 
ease, the  first  thing  to  be  attended  to  should 
be  the  -due  regulation  of  the  temperature  of 
the  several  agents  applied  tch  the  body  ;  of 
these,  the  principal  which  demand  atten- 
tion are,  the  atmosphere^  and  the  fluids  re- 
ceived into  the  stomach. 

The  air  which  immediately  surrounds 
the  body,  and  which  is  inhaled  in  respira- 
tion, should  be  as  cold  as  is  consistent  with 
comfortable  feeling.  Perhaps  a  temperature 
of  from  40  to  50  degrees  will  be  most  salu- 
tary. An  approximation  to  this  may  al- 
ways be  effected,  in  three  seasons  of  the 

M 


134 

the  year  out  of  the  four,  by  the  patient  re- 
maining, in  cold  weather,  in  a  room  warmed 
only  by  a  small  fire;  and,  in  the  milder 
months,  by  a  free  exposure  to  the  open  air, 
in  the  shade  ;  m  all  cases  carefully  avoiding 
the  causes  which  operate  in  rendering  the 
cold  air  injurious :  these  are,  principally, 
as  has  been  before  said,  1st,  its  being  com- 
bined with  moisture  ;  2d,  its  being  applied 
in  a  stream  or  current ;  3d,  its  being  em- 
ployed in  too  sedentary  a  state  of  body ; 
and,  4th,  its  being  carried  to  such  a  degree 
as  to  induce  a  state  of  chill.  In  the  height 
of  summer,  at  which  time  many  people  are 
equally  liable  to  catarrh,  as  well  as  other 
diseases  arising  from  variations  of  tempera- 
ture,  perhaps  none  of  the  means  which  have 
been  suggested  for  reducing  the  warmth  of 


135 

the  surrounding  air  can  be  employed  with 
perfect  safety. 

The  covering  of  the  body,  both  by  day 
and  during  the  night,  should  be  as  light  as 
the  external  temperature  will  allow  of,  and 
every  thing  taken  into  the  stomach  should 
be  perfectly  cold. 

By  adopting  these  means  upon  the  very 
first  appearance  of  the  complaint,  its  pro- 
gress will  very  generally  be  arrested,  and 
the  *'  seven  days'  plague"  will  be  reduced 
to  an  ephemera  (28).  It  is  of  the  utmost 
importance,  however,  to  observe,  that  it  is 
only  in  the  early  stage  of  catarrh  that  the 
good  effects  of  cold  are  to  be  depended 
upon.  The  period  at  which  this  complaint 
terminates,  as  well  as  the  symptoms  which 


136 

attend  it,  is  various.  Sometimes  the  whole 
aiFection  ceases  in  the  course  of  a  few 
hours*,    at  others   it   is   prolonged   to  as 

*  Some  people  are  liable  to  be  suddenly  affected 
with  ail  the  symptoms  of  a  violeRt  cold,  which,  in  the 
course  of  an  hour  or  two,  will  leave  them  as  sud- 
denly, and  after  a  short  interval  (perhaps  several 
times  in  the  course  of  the  day)  again  make  their  ap- 
pearance, upon  the  accidental  application  of  some 
imperceptible  exciting  cause.  I  once  attended  a 
young  girl  who,  about  two  years  before  the  period 
at  which  I  saw  her,  was  the  subject  of  a  very  severe 
attack  of  catarrh,  which  left  behind  it  so  extraordi- 
nary a  susceptibility  to  cold,  that  she  afterwaixis  be- 
came unable  even  to  go  from  one  room  to  another, 
or  endure  the  least  change  of  temperature,  without 
having  a  most  violent  fit  of  sneezing,  coughing,  and 
other  symptoms  of  incipient  catarrh.  These  re- 
curred so  frequently,  and  v/ere  of  so  temporary  a  na- 
ture,  always   disappearing  with   the   cause  which 


137 

many  days  or  weeks;  sometimes  again  it  is 
early  attended  with  expectoration,  at  others 
it  disappears  without  any  having  occurred ; 
most  usually,  however,  its  duration  is  from 
two  to  four,  five,  or  seven  days ;  during 
the  former  part  of  which  time,  the  perma- 
nent symptoms  are  dryness  and  huskiness 
of  the  parts,  general  indisposition,  and  more 
or  less  febrile  heat ;  in  the  latter,  a  remis- 
sion of  these,  and  the  occurrence  of  an  ex- 
pectoration of  viscid  mucus.  In  this  case, 
the  complaint  may  be  divided  into  two 
stages :  1st,  the  period  of  inflammation, 
2d,  the  period  of  expectoration  :  in  the  lat- 
ter, or  protracted  stage  of  the  complaint, 
where  the  cough  and  spitting  alone  remain, 

produced  them,  as  to  justify  the  expression,  that,  af- 
ter her  first  attack,  she  vvas  seldom  free  from  cold. 
M  2 


138 

the  effects  of  cold  are  usually  as  injurious 
as  in  the  former  they  are  salutary.  In  the 
one,  the  vessels  of  the  part  are  in  a  state  of 
increased  action,  which  is  reduced  by  every 
sedative ;  in  the  other,  they  are  in  a  state  of 
relaxation  or  debility ;  and  the  consequence 
of  any  unusual  application  of  cold  is  very 
generally  a  suppression  of  their  excretions, 
and  a  subsequent  renewal  of  the  inflammatory 
affection  ;  which,  in  consequence  of  the  de- 
bile  state  of  the  parts,  usually  assumes  an 
atonic  form,  and  runs  out  to  a  greater 
length  of  time  than  the  preceding*.  And 
in  this  way  it  is  that  colds  are  often  kept  up 
for  months,  until  they  degenerate  into  a 
permanently  morbid  state  of  the  lungs. 
It  is  absolutely  necessary,  therefore, .  that 

*  Vide    Wilso7i  on  Febrile  Disc-ascs^  vol.  III.  //. 
12^073. 


139 

the  patient  should  be  extremely  careful  m 
avoiding  this  source  of  danger,  where  his 
cough  happens  to  be  long  protracted,  by 
carefully  guarding  against  all  unnecessary 
exposure  to  cold,  and  by  defending  the 
feet  and  breast,  as  before  advised;  and, 
when  obliged  to  go  into  an  air  of  a  low  tem- 
perature, by  increasing  his  clothing,  and  by 
holding  a  pocket-handkerchief,  or  some  not 
,very  permeable  substance,  before  his  mouth 
and  nose. 

The  use  of  cold,  internally,  will  be  fur- 
ther considered  under  the  head  of  medicine. 

II.  Diet.  A  rigid  attention  to  diet  would 
be  too  severe  a  tax  upon  our  comfort  to 
be  imposed  at  the  occurrence  of  every  slight 
attack  of  cold ;  but,  whenever  the  disorder 


140 

rises  to  such  a  degree  as  to  produce  a  state 
of  general  febrile  indisposition,  it  will  be 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  patient  to  pay 
a  proper  regard  to  regimen. 

He  should  abstain  from  stimulating  ali- 
ment of  every  kind,  as  also  from  wine  and 
spiritous  liquors ;  confining  his  diet  to 
such  things  as  are  light  and  easy  of  diges- 
tion, as  sago^  arrow  root^  and  other  prepa- 
rations of  the  various y^rm^zrd'rt;,  with  milk  ; 
acescent  vegetables,  and  cooling  fruits;  light 
puddings,  custards,  jellies,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.; 
and  substituting  for  his  usual  drink  either 
toast  and  water,  small  cider,  the  acidulated 
soda  water,  or  some  other  cooling  liquid. 
But  where  the  symptoms  are  so  trifling  as 
not  to  render  an  abstinence  from  animal 
food  requisite,  those  meats  should  be  chosen 


141 

which  are  of  the  most  digestible  nature,  as 
veal  and  chicken.  Shell  fish  also  are  proper 
articles  of  food,  as  oysters ^  cray-fish^  loh^ 
stersy  crabs,  and  prawns ;  and,  as  drink, 
wine  and  tvuter* 

A  common  prejudice  is  entertained 
against  cheese,  nuts,  &c.,  &c.,  in  cases  of 
catarrh,  and  this  is  founded  upon  experience 
of  their  increasing  the  cough  :  every  thing 
which  either  stimulates  the  glottis  and  fauces 
in  deglutition,  or  proves  indigestible  after 
being  received  into  the  stomach,  invariably 
having  this  effect. 

III.  Medicine.  Under  the  idea  of  there 
existing  in,  or  being  connected  with,  the 
animal  frame,   a  principle,   the  efforts  of 


142 

which  are  coi:^tantly  excited  to  expel  the 
various  offending  causes  which  occasionally 
disturb  the  harmony  of  its  economy,  the 
more  observant  physicians,  from  the  earliest 
eras  of  medicine,  have  been  led  to  mark, 
with  care,  the  phenomena  of  disease,  when 
left  to  run  its  natural  course ;  and,  in  their 
plans  of  cure,  have  chiefly  directed  their  at- 
tention to  the  regulating  and  promoting  the 
salutary  efforts  of  nature.  Thus,  in  catarrh, 
the  means  which  nature  occasionally  takes 
for  its  removal,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
symptoms  which  mark  its  critical  or  spon- 
taneous termination,  are,  principally,  a  co- 
pious and  equable  flow  of  sweat,  an  increas- 
ed secretion  of  mucus  from  the  membrane 
of  the  trachea  and  bronchi  as,  the  production 
of  a  diarrhoea;  and  hence  an  indication  for 
the  use  of  diaphoretics,  expectorants,  and  ca- 


14 


D 


thartics,  or  laxatives*.  Others,  on  the  con- 
trary, conscious  that  the  operations  of  nature 
are  but  little  understood,  and  often  liable  to 
fatal  misinterpretation,  have  limited  their 
practice  solely  to  the  administration  of  reme- 
dies, the  virtues  of  which  either  their  own 

*  The  spontaneous  solutions  of  all  febrile  diseases 
are  commonly  attended  by  some  prominent  and  well- 
marked  symptoms.  Those  which  are  observed  to 
accompany  the  natural  or  critical  terminations  of 
catarrh  are,  the  appearance  of  a  general,  moderately 
profuse,  and  equable  perspiration  upon  the  surface  of 
the  body,  after  the  skin  has  been  dry  and  constricted ; 
the  occurrence  of  a  copious  expectoration  of  viscid 
mucus ;  a  diarrhoea,  or  defluction  from  the  intestinal 
canal ;  the  deposition  of  a  furfunaceous  (bran-like) 
sediment  in  the  urine ;  the  appearance  of  a  scabby 
eruption  about  the  nose  and  ears,  and,  occasionally, 
upon  the  head  and  other  parts  of  the  body.  Vide 
Velsch.  Hecatost  11.  obs,  65. 


144 

experience  or  the  experience  of  others  is 
presumed  to  have  sanctioned,  without  any 
regard  to  theory,  or  adverting  to  their  mode 
of  operating.  In  catarrh,  the  individual  re- 
medies recommended  with  one  or  other  of 
thesfe  views  (either  upon  general  principles 
or  specifically)  are  extremely  numerous,  and 
the  majority  of  them  certainly  useless ;  for, 
of  the  popular  medicines  advised  for  cold, 
I  am  led  to  believe,  there  are  few  that  are 
not,  either,  on  the  one  hand,  inert,  or,  on 
the  other,  actually  injurious. 

The  indications  which  arise  in  the  treat- 
ment of  this  complaint,  to  be  fulfilled 
by  medicine,  may  be  reduced  to  the  fol- 
lowing heads  :  to  reduce  inflammatory  ac- 
tion in  the  early  stage  ;  to  diminish  irritation 


145 

in  the  protracted  stage ;  to  palliate  urgent 
symptoms. 

The  acute  form  of  catarrh,  which  is 
here  exclusively  spoken  of,  like  all  other 
inflammatory  diseases,  requires  the  anti- 
phlogistic mode  of  treatment,  but  the  at- 
tendant symptoms  seldom  amount  to  a 
decree  of  urgency  to  demand  the  more 
active  forms  of  this  regimen,  without  the 
disorder  degenerating  into  a  state  approach- 
ing to  actual  pneumonia  (inflammation  of 
the  kings).  Of  the  means  to  be  pursued 
under  these  circumstances,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary here  to  speak,  as,  in  every  such  case, 
domestic  management  should  be  instantly 
superseded  by  the  advice  of  a  regular  prac- 
titioner in  medicine :  and  here  I  strenuously 
advise^  that  proper  assistance,  when  it  can 

N 


146 

be  procured,  should  never  be  omitted  when 
the  complaint  assumes  its  more  severe 
forms*. 

The  occasional  use  of  aperients  is  indis- 
pensible,  and  should  be  had  recourse  to 
early  in  the  complaint.  I  am  inclined  to 
think,  however,  that  very  active  purging  is 
more  often  found  prejuditial  than  servicea- 
ble, probably  by  diminishing  expectoration, 

*  "  If  a  cold  come  ^Tith  -any  violence,  apply  the 
means  here  recommended  for  three  or  four  days ; 
if  the  patient  does  not  get  materially  worse,  or  the 
complaint  abate  in  that  time,  send  for  the  best  assist- 
ance in  your  power.  If  you  are  not  able  to  send  for 
a  physician,  let  it  be  an  apothecary,  of  a  humane  and 
tender  disposition,  and  one  who  studies  rather  to  re- 
move the  complaint  than  to  load  you  v/ith  a  number 
of  phials/'     Hays  on  Colds. 


147 

and  transpiration  by  the  skin.  Of  laxatives y 
the  saline,  or  more  cooling,  are  to  be  pre- 
ferred*. 

*  Epsom  salt  (magnesia  vitriolataj. 

Common  Glauber's  sdlt  (natron  vitriolatumj. 

Rochelle  salt  (natron  tartarisatum). 

Soluble  tartar  (kali  tartarisatum). 
The  dose  of  each  of  these  salts  is  from  half  an 
ounce  to  an  ounce,  according  to  the  age  of  the  patient. 
This,  dissolved  by  a  slow  fire,  in  about  two  ounces 
of  watv^i',  should  be  taken  early  in  the  morning,  and, 
if  necessary,  repeated  after  an  interval  of  two  days. 
The  saline  aperients  have  the  advantage  over  others 
in  febrile  complaints,  in  being  sedative  and  cooling. 
Those,  however,  who  have  an  aversion  to  salts,  may 
substitute  any  other  opening  medicine  to  which  they 
have  been  accustomed,  as  cc^^or  oil,  jalafi,  rhubarb, 
colocynth,  Sec,  8cc.  But  the  purgative  which  of  all 
others  is  most  powerfully  febrifuge  is  calomel  (29). 
The  prejudices  commonly  entertained  against  the 


148 

But  the  femedy  to  which  I  wish  more 
particularly  to  direct  the  attention  of  the 

use  of  this  remedy  are  now  commonly  understood 
to  be  founded  in  error,  and  that  it  may  always  be 
administered  with  perfect  safety,  provided  the  pa- 
tient guard  properly  against  imprudent  exposures 
to  wet  and  cold,  at  the  time  he  is  under  its  operation, 
and  there  is  no  idiosyncrasy  of  constitution  that  mi- 
litates against  its  use.  Calomel  is  best  administered 
in  the  form  of  pills,  as  in  the  following  recipe : 

Take  of  calomel  from  three  to  eight  grains  j 
extract  of  colocynth  four  grains; 
conserve  of  honey  a  sufficient  quantity  to 
form  them  into  the  consistence  of  pills. 

But  some  individuals  possess  such  a  peculiarity  of 
temperament  (^idiosyncrasy)  as  to  render  them  very 
remarkably  and  morbidly  susceptible  to  the  impres- 
sions of  certain  medicines  applied  to  the  stomach» 
and  this  though  the  quantity  taken  be  so  small  as 
not,  in  others,  to  produce  the  least  effect.     This  is 


149 

reader,  for  the  fulfilling  the  first  of  the  in- 
dications above-mentioned,  and  which, 
from  the  strongest  conviction  of  its  efii- 
cacy,  I  can  venture  confidently  to  re- 
commend is,  frequent  draughts  of  cold 
fluids,  combined  ivith  nauseating  doses  of 
emetics  (30). 

not  unfrequently  the  case  with  regard  to  calomel,  a 
single  grain  of  "which  is  sufficient,  in  some,  to  pro- 
duce the  most  \iolent. ptyalis7n.  In  such  cases, 
its  indiscreet  use  is  liable  to  be  followed  by  the  most 
alarming  consequences.  I  have  often  known  this 
circumstance  to  occur  wijth  regard  to  ipecacuanha, 
and  also  in  some  instances  to  rhubarb ;  and  a  case 
was  related  to  me,  by  a  medical  gentleman  of  my 
acquaintance,  of  a  lady  who  was  thrown  into  the 
most  violent  convulsions,  by  taking  only  ten  drops 
of  laudanum.  The  sam.e  native  antipathy,  or  hor- 
ror, is  often  found  to  exist  in  respect  to  certain  im- 
pressions on  the  senses. 

n2 


150 

Of  the  external  use  of  cold  air,  as  far  as 
relates  to  catarrh,  I  have  already  spoken 
under  the  head  of  temperature  ;  and  I  there 
objected  to  it  as  a  remedy,  which,  when 
injudiciously  employed,  was  liable  to  be 
followed  by  the  worst  consequences.  My 
own  experience,  however,  as  well  as  that 
of  others  whose  opinions  I  have  collected,' 
enables  me  to  bear  an  opposite  testimony 
^^ith  regard  to  the  effects  of  cold  adminis- 
tered internally  in  the  form  of  frequent 
draughts  of  cold  fluids.  I  have  known 
symptoms  of  a  catarrh,  which  threatened  to 
be  of  the  most  severe  nature,  entirely  re- 
moved by  simply  drinking  three  glasses  of 
cold  water  at  short  intervals*  (31). 

*  A  glass  of  cold  water,  taken  upon  going  to  bed, 
id  a  very  commonj  and  also  a  very  successful  remedy 
for  catarrh^  among  the  lower  order  of  people,  irt 


151 

The  impression  of  cold  upon  the  sto- 
mach, independently  of  its  general  refrigerant 
operation,  seems  to  have  the  effect  of  pro- 
moting the  action  of  all  the  secretory  and 
excretory  vessels.  It  increases  transpira- 
tion by  the  vessels  of  the  skin  ;  it  power- 
fully excites  the  mucous  follicles  of  the  air 
tubes  to  rid  themselves  of  their  contents  ; 
and  it  is,  at  the  same  time,  gently  diuretic 
and  laxative*.     There  is  no  cold  fluid,  per- 

many  parts  of  England.  In  the  western  counties,  I 
have  often  known  it  employed  in  conjunction  with  a 
practice  that  perhaps  may  contribute  to  its  good  ef- 
fects, namely,  the  warming  the  bed  with  a  pan  of 
ooals,  into  which  a  little  coarse  sugar  had  been  pre- 
viously sprinkled. 

*  A  late  writer  strictly  enjoins  a  very  limited  use 
of  liquids  in  all  complaints  of  the  chest,  under  the 
idea  that  the  copious  introduction  of  fluids  into  the 


152 

haps  that  can  be  administered  which  is 
superior  to  pure  cold  water ;  and  the  drink- 
ing  of  frequent  draughts  of  this,  combined 

vessel  tends  to  embarrass  the  pulmonary  system,  and 
thereby  increase  the  existing  irritation.  This  may, 
perhaps,  hold  good  as  far  as  relates  to  tefiid  diluents ; 
but  I  much  doubt  whether  the  copious  use  of  cold 
liquids  does  not  tend  ultimately  rather  to  diminish 
than  increase  the  quantity  of  fluid  in  the  circulating 
system  :  so  speedy  and  considerable  is  often  its  eva- 
cuant  effects.  Thus  much,  however,  I  can  confi- 
dently assert;  I  have  known  a  great  number  of  very 
severe  cases  of  cold  cured  by  the  plan  of  treatment 
above  prescribed,  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  after 
having  previously  existed  for  some  days  under  a 
limited  use  of  liquids  :  that  is,  where  the  habit  or  in- 
clination of  the  patient  did  not  lead  him  to  take  more 
than  ajiint  and  a  /ialf(thQ  quantity  spedfied  by  this 
author)  in  the  twenty-four  hours.  Vide  Davidson's 
Observations  on  the  Pulmonary  System, 


153 

with  nauseating  doses  of  emetics,  will  be 
found  a  remedy  as  effectual  as  it  is  simple, 
in  every  case  of  inflammatory  catarrh. 

As  a  nauseating  medicine,  the  emetic 
tartar  (antimonium  tartarisatum)  is  to  be 
preferred;  both  on  account  of  our  being 
able  with  more  certainty  to  regulate  its 
dose,  and  as  it  more  powerfully  promotes 
expectoration  and  diaphoresis,  without,  at 
the  same  time,  increasing  arterial  action : 
for  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  general  rule,  in 
inflammatory  diseases,  of  whatever  descrip- 
tion, that  all  attempts  to  excite  evacuations 
by  stimulant  and  heating  medicines,  will  be 
uniformly  injurious*. 

*  The  medicines  commonly  employed  for  the 
purpose  of  exciting  nausea,  are  ifiecacuanha,  and 


154 

The  annexed  is  a  formula  adapted  to  the 
adult  age,  which  will,  in  general,  produce 

preparations  of  aw ^zmowT/.  The  former  is  objection- 
able on  account  of  the  facility  with  which  it  excites 
vomiting.  Of  the  antimonial  remedies,  tl>ose  most 
in  use  are,  emetic  tartar  ( antiynonium  tartarisatum) 
James'  powder,  and  the  antimonial  powder  (pulvis 
antimonialia);  of  these  the  emetic  tartar  is  by  far 
most  equal  in  its  operation. 

Full  vomiting,  at  the  commencement  of  the  com- 
plaint, will  seldom  fail  to  prevent  its  further  pro- 
gress; but  the  exciting  this  unpleasant  operation  by 
art,  would,  by  most  people,  perhaps,  be  considered  a 
remedy  even  worse  than  the  disease  (32) ;  but  those 
who  have  courage  to  take  an  emetic  upon  first  feel- 
ing the  symptoms  which  announce  the  approach  of 
a  severe  catarrh,  will  uniformly  find  these  removed, 
and  the  occurrence  of  those  which  would  otherwise 
have  supervened  prevented  by  its  operation.  Vide 
farther  observations  on  the  use  of  emetics,  p.  184. 


155 

a  very  gentle  nausea,  without  creating  any- 
considerable  degree  of  uncomfortable  sen- 
sation. In  younger  subjects,  or  under  pe- 
culiarities of  constitution,  it  must  be  pro« 
portionately  more  diluted*  (33). 

*  Take  of  emetic  tartar  (antimonium  tartarua* 
turn)  four  grains; 
pure  cold  water  two  pints : 
Dissolve  the  emetic  tartar  in  the  water  by  tritura- 
tion.— Of  this  solution  from  a  quarter  to  half  a  puit 
may  be  taken  every  five  or  six  hours. 

In  cases  where,  notwithstanding  the  use  of  the  so- 
lution, the  skin  remains  obstinately  dry,  and  there  is 
a  general  feverish  disposition,  either  the  following 
saline  neutral  draught,  or  one  of  the  pills,  may  be 
added  with  advantage  to  each  dose : 

Take  of  fresh  lemon-juice  half  an  ounce  by  mea- 
sure; 
salt  of  tartar   (kali  fir^fiaratum)   one 
scruple ; 


156 

Thus  administered,  during  the  period  in 
which  a  state  of  actual  inflammatory  action 
is  going  on  in  the  mucous  membrane, 
this  remedy  seldom  fails  to  induce  a  speedy 
solution  of  the  complaint;  but  wherever 
a  cold,  either  in  consequence  of  its  severity, 

laudanum  (tinctura  ofiii)  ten  drops : 
Mix  the  salt  of  tartar  with  the  lemon-juice,  and 
upon  the  ceasing  of  the  effervescence  add  the  lau- 
danum. 

Take  of  calomel  (calomelas)  four  grains  ; 

purified  opium  (extractum  ofiii)  three 
grains ; 
or,  of  the  extract  of  white  poppies  (extractum 
pafiaveris  alhi)  six  grains  : 
Beat  these  together  until  they  become  intimately 
mixed,  and  divide  the  mass  into  six  pills.     These, 
conjoined  with  the  use  of  the  emetic  tartar,  are  sin- 
gularly beneficial  in  all  febrile  affections. 


157 

or  from  its  having  been  neglected  in  the 
first  instance,  runs  oiit  to  a  considerable 
length,  it  is  usually  kept  up  by  a  state  of 
simple  irritation  of  the  part,  which  super- 
venes upon  the  disappearance  of  the  inflam- 
mation^  and  becomes  as  it  were  habitual, 
exciting  the  vessels  to  an  increased  secre- 
tion of  mucus,  and  producing  cough  by 
sympathy  with  the  larynx.  In  this  state^ 
recourse  should  be  had  to  the  use  of  digi- 
talis^  (fox-glove)  (34),  which  will  be  found 

*  The  digitalis^  ovfox'glove,  is  most  commodi- 
ously  and  effectually  administered  in  the  form  of 
tincture;  but  I  beg  leave  to  recommend  to  those 
who  employ  this  remedy,  to  be  careful  in  procuring 
it  of  an  apothecary  or  druggist  upon  whom  they  can 
rely  for  the  accuracy  of  its  preparation,  as,  when 
pi'epared  incautiously,  the  dose  is  liable  to  the  great- 
-est  uncertainty.  The  dose  of  \X\q  fox-glove^  in  tinc- 
o 


158 

.in  the  highest  degree  beneficial,   and  its 
efficacy  will  be  increased  by  the  patient's 

ture,  is  from  five  to  fifteen  drops  every  six  hours. 
It  may  be  administered  in  any  convenient  vehicle^ 
and  its  use  should  be  persevered  in  till  a  sensible 
mitigation  of  the  symptoms  takes  place,  unless  it 
should  previously  produce  either  a  disposition  to 
sickness,  pain  in  the  region  of  the  stomach,  giddiness 
and  pain  in  the  head,  or  a  very  considerable  reduc- 
tion of  the  frequency  of  the  pulse;  in  all  vi^hich  cases 
it  should  immediately  be  discontinued. 

In  this  stage  of  catarrh,  ofiium  also  may  be  ad- 
ministered with  the  best  effects.  Of  still  more  con- 
siderable efficacy,  however,  I  am  inclined  to  believe, 
is  the  extract  ofivhite  popiiies.  This  remedy,  how- 
ever, is  usually  given  in  doses  too  small  to  produce 
any  effect :  administered  in  .the  dose  of  five  grains, 
every  three,  four,  or  five  hours,  according  to  the  age 
and  constitution  of  the  patient,  it  will  be  found  a  very 
useful  medicine  in  all  those  tickling  coughs  that  re- 
main after  the  inflammatory  stage  of  catarrh. 


159 

inhaling,  at  the  same  time,  the  vapour  aris- 
ing from  cicuta  (hemlock)  and  aether^  in 
the  manner  prescribed  below^.  In  pro- 
tracted catarrhs,  likewise,  I  have  often 
known  much  benefit  derived  from  wearing 
a  warm  adhesive  plaster  upon  the  chestf . 

*  In  an  inhaler,  or  common  tea-pot,  mix  a  spoon- 
full  of  (Zther  with  about  half  a  drachm  of  the  extract 
of  cicuta^  previously  dissolved  in  a  tea-cupful  of 
boiling  water ;  close  the  lid  with  care,  and  set  the 
whole  in  a  pan  of  warm  water,  when  the  vapour 
may  be  inhaled  through  the  spout  of  the  vessel  con- 
taining the  ingredients. 

t   Take  of  pure   gum  ammoniac   (gum   amino- 
niacumj, 
vinegar  of  squills   (ace turn  scilU)^ 

each  two  drachms ; 
soft  extract  of  opium  (opium  fiuri- 
Jicatum)  a  scruple  : 
First  reduce  the  gum  ammonial  into  a  fine  powder. 


160 

This  appears  to  be  serviceable  chiefly  by 
defending  the  part  from  partial  cold. 

The  more  prominent  symptoms  of  ca- 
tarrh, and,   in  consequence,  those  which 

then  add  the  other  ingredients,  and  nib  the  whole 
together  until  it  forms  a  thick  consistent  paste. 
This,  spread  upon  leather,  should  be  applied  to  the 
chest  in  its  recent  state,  and  suffered  to  remain  on 
until  it  loosens  spontaneously. 

Dr.  Buchan  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  use 
of  a  Burgundy  pitch  plaster  worn  upon  the  back. 
Why  it  should  be  applied  to  the  back  in  preference 
to  the  front  of  the  chest,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  con- 
ceive (35). 

The  external  use  of  various  articles  of  the 
materia  medica  is  occasionally  resorted  to  with 
more  or  less  advantage ;  camphor  is  said  to  have 
been  used  with  the  best  effect.  Vide  Le?itWy  J^eo- 
bacht,  Efiidem.  Isfc.jfi.  158. 


161 

are  liable  to  be  most  urgent,  are,  cough, 
gravedo  (or  obtuse  pain  and  weight  in  the 
fore  part  of  the  head),  oppression  at  the 
chest,  with  difficulty  of  breathing,  and  sore 
throat. 

The  first  of  these  is  uniformly  present, 
is  often  extremely  urgent  and  severe,  and 
IS  usually  that  to  which  the  patient  directs 
the  chief  part  of  his  attention. 

The  medicines  commonly  employed  for 
the  purpose  of  alleviating  cough  are 
demulcents  and  opiates;  of  which  a  list  is 
subjoined^;    but  the  syrup  of  white  pop- 

*  Take  of  best  purified  honey, 

oil  of  sweet  almonds,  each  two  ounces  ; 
fresh  lemon  juice  one  ounce ; 
syrup  of  white  poppies  half  an  ounces 
o2 


162 

pies,  in  the  dose  of  a  moderate-sized  tea- 
Mix  by  triture  to  form  a  linctus. — Dose,  a  tea- 
spoonful  whenever  the  cough  is  most  troublesome. 

Take  of  oil  of  sweet  almonds  one  ounce ; 
pure  rain  water  half  a  pint ; 
salt  of  tartar  five  grains ; 
purified  sugar  half  an  ounce. 

Bissolve  the  salt  of  tartar  and  the  sugar  in  the 
water,  and  afterwards  add  the  oil,  when,  by  agitating 
the  phial,  an  emulsion  will  be  formed  of  cream-like 
appearance. 

To  this  add  paregoric  elixir  ftincnira  opu 
ca?n/ihorataJ  half  an  ounce. 

In  making  this  emulsion,  it  is  necessary  to  em- 
ploy soft  water,  otherwise,  the  oil  will  not  combine 


163 

spoonful,  upon  the  first  feeling  of  the 
tickling   in   the   throat,    is    not   only   the 

intimately  with  the  other  ingredients;  but  if  this 
cannot  readily  be  procured,  the  oil  may  be  dissolved 
equally  well  by  triturating  it  with  the  yolk  of  an 
eg^,  and  afterwards  gradually  adding  the  water. 
When  it  is  prepared  in  this  way,  the  alkali  may  be 
omitted ;  its  only  use  being  that  of  a  solvent. 

It  is  here  supposed  that  the  patient  is  at  the  same 
time  taking  the  antimony^  as  directed  above ;  but  where 
this  is  not  the  case,  the  addition  of  a  grain  and  a 
half  of  emetic  tartar,  to  the  above,  may  be  made 
with  advantage.  The  following  emulsion  is  some- 
what similar : 

Take  of  oil  of  sweet  almonds  one  ounce ;' 
barley-water  six  ounces  j 
best  white  sugar, 


164 

most  simple,  but,  I  am  inclined  to  believe, 
the  most  effectual. 

pulverized    gum   arable,   each   half   an 

ounce ; 
laudanum  (tinctura  opii)  forty  drops. 

Incorporate  the  sugar  and  gum  arable  together  in 
a  mortar,  with  a  small  quantity  of  the  water,  then 
gradually  mix  the  oil,  and  afterwards  add,  by  little 
at  a  time,  the  remaining  portion  of  the  water  with 
the  laudanum. 

Spermaceti  is  often  employed,  under  various 
forms,  as  a  remedy  for  cough,  as  well  on  account 
of  its  demulcent  quality,  as  from  an  idea  of  its  pro- 
moting expectoration.  Its  expectorant  quality, 
however,  is  extremely  trifling,  and  as  the  liquid 
mixture  made  of  it  is  very  liable  to  turn  sour,  even 
in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  the  preceding  formulas 
are  to  be  preferred.      When  it  is  employed,  the 


165 

The  pain  and  heaviness  in  the   head, 
which  often  occurs  in  this   complaint   to 

form  of  a  linctus  is  preferable  to  that  of  an  emul- 
sion.    The  foUowmg  is  a  convenient/ormw/a; 

Take  of  spermaceti  (previously  reduced  to  a  fine 
powder,  by  being  triturated  with  a  lit- 
tle spirit  of  any  kind)  one  ounce  ; 

yolk  of  an  egg,  or  mucilage  of  gum  ara- 
bic  (prepared  by  dissolving  half  an 
ounce  of  gum  in  an  ounce  of  warm 
water),  one  ounce ; 

conserve  of  roses, 

syrup  of  white  poppies,  each  half  an 
ounce. 

Kub  the  sfiermaceti  with  the  egg^  or  mucilage, 
until  they  form  a  tenacious  paste,  then  add  the  con- 
serve,  and,  lastly,  the  syru/i  j  when  the  whole  being 
incorporated  will  form  a  grateful  linctus. 


166 

a    distressing    degree,   may   be   generally 
much  relieved  by  holding  the  head  over 

Sfianish  liquorice^  lozenges  of  various  kinds,  soft 
marmalades^  currant  and  raspberry  jellies^  rob  of 
eldery  sugar  candy,  barley  sugar,  i^c,  is'c,  are  re- 
medies in  universal  use  for  the  purpose  of  allaying 
the  tickling  which  produces  cough.  The  effect  of 
all  remedies  of  this  kind  is  to  smear  over  the  glottis 
and  fauces,  and,  by  thus  sheathing  them,  rendering 
them  less  sensible  to  the  irritation.  As  they  have 
the  advantage  of  being  innocent,  and  are  usually 
found  to  afford  a  temporary  relief,  they  may,  in 
every  case,  be  resorted  to  with  advantage  as  pallia- 
tives ;  further  than  this  they  have  no  effect.  Troches, 
prepared  after  the  following  recipe,  are  often  found 
to  have  a  wonderful  efficacy  in  allaying  tickling 
coughs,  and  promoting  expectoration: 

Take  of  purified  opium,  two  scruples  ; 

tincture  of  balsam  of  Tr>lu,    (tinctura 


167 

the    steam    of    hot    water,     impregnated 

bahaini  ToLutani)  two  drachms,  by  mea- 
sure ; 

syrup,  composed  of  one  part  water,  and 
two  parts  purified  sugar,  four  ounces ; 
refined  Spanish  liquorice,  previously 
moistened  with  a  little  warm  water  so 
as  to  make  it  soft ; 

gum  arabic,  in  fine  powder,  each  two 
ounces  and  a  half; 

emetic  tartar,  eight  grains : 

Rub  the  ofiium  and  the  emetic  tartar  with  the 
tincture  and  the  syrup  until  the  former  is  perfectly 
dissolved,  then  add  the  liquorice,  softened  with  warm 
water,  and,  whilst  beating  them  together,  gradually 
sprinkle  in  the  gum  arabic.  Divide  the  mass  into 
troches,  each  weighmg  ten  grains,  and  exsiccate 
them  gradually  in  the  air. 


168 

with  camphor*.  Applying  aether  to  the 
forehead  by  means  of  a  feather  is  often 
resorted  to  with  advantage ;  as  is  also 
the    use     of    sternutatoriesf     and     siala- 

Dr.  Buchan  strenuously  recommends  the  use  of 
the  following  infusion: 

Take  of  liquorice  one  ounce ; 

salt  of  tartar  three  drachms ', 
boiling  water  two  pints : 

Infuse  for  one  night,  and  to  the  strained  liquor  add 
an  ounce  and  a  half  of  syrup  of  white  poppies. 
Dose — A  tea-cupful  three  or  four  times  a  day. 

*  Vide  page  179,  et  seq. 

t  Common  snuff  proves  errhine  to  those  who  art 
not  snuff-takers ;  but  for  those  who  have  accustomed 
themselves  to  this  stimulus,  a  more  powerful  one 


169 

gogues^ ;  but  when  the  pain  is  extremely 
severe,  the  patient  will  experience  most 
relief  from  a  blister  applied  to  one  or  both 
temples. 

In  cases  of  catarrh,  attended  with 
considerable  pain  and  oppression  of  the 
chest,  it  will  be  necessary  to  apply  a  blister 
to  the  pit  of  the  stomach,  and  this  should 
never  be  omitted  when  the  breathing 
is  much  affected  (36)* 

will  be  necessary,  as  the  herb-snufF,  ov  pulvis  asari 
compositus  of  the  pharmacopoeias,  which  may  be 
procured  of  the  druggist. 

*  The  best  sialagogue  is  the  pellitory-root  (radix 
jihyrethri,  pellitory  of  Spain).  A  piece  of  this  should 
be  held  in  the  mouth,  and  chewed  until  it  excites  a 
<:opious  flow  of  saliva. 

P 


170 

An  inflammation  of  the  throat,  pro- 
ducing soreness,  tumefaction,  and  pain  or 
difficulty  in  swallowing,  is  usually  con- 
sidered a  distinct  complaint,  and  deno- 
minated quincy^ ;  but  as  it  often  also 
occurs,  in  a  less  degree,  in  consequence  of 
an  extension  of  the  affection  of  the  nerves 
and  trachea,  in  catarrh,  I  have  mentioned 
it  as  an  occasional  symptom  of  this  com- 
plaint, under  the  common  term  of  sore 
throat.  When  it  is  present  in  a  slight 
degree  only,  it  may,  generally,  be  readily 
removed  by  keeping  small  portions  of  nitre 
in  the  mouth,  and  swallowing  them  as  they 
slowly  dissolvef ;  as  also  by  the  frequent 

*  Cynanche.      Cullen.     Synopsis  jYosolog.      Cl.  1 . 
Ord.  2. 

t  Take  of  purified  nitre  two  drachms ; 

refined  sugar,  reduced  to  a  fine  powder, 
six  drachms; 


171 

©ccasional  use  of  emollient  and  detergent 
gargles*.  The  treatment  of  cases  of  a 
more  severe  nature  does  not  fall  within  the 
province  of  domestic  medicine. 

pulverized  gum  tragacanth  three 
drachms: 
Beat  these  together  with  a  small  portion  of  water, 
until  they  are  intimately  mixed  and  form  a  coherent 
mass,  which  may  be  divided  into  moderate-sized 
troches^  or  lozenges,  to  be  dried  by  means  of  a  gentle 
heat. 

*  Boil  about  half  an  ounce  of  raisins,  or  figs,  in 
half  a  pint  of  new  milk ;  and  to  the  decoction,  when 
cold,  add  a  drachm  of  sal  volatile  (spiritus  amraQiii^ 
compositus) :  or. 

Take  of  barley-water  six  ounces ; 

honey  of  roses  (mel  rosaj  one  ounce ; 
lemon  juice  half  an  ounce. 
Mix.  A  portion  of  either  of  these  may  be  used  as 
a  gargle  every  three  or  four  hours. 


172 

An  unpleasant  and  not  an  unfrequenfe 
sequel  of  this  complaint  is,  a  partial  or  com- 
plete loss  of  voice,  depending  upon  a  state 
of  the  muscles  subservient  to  speech,  ap- 
proaching to  palsy.  This  is  sometimes 
only  of  a  very  temporary  nature ;  at 
others,  it  has  been  known  to  continue  for 
several  months  after  the  disappearance 
of  the  other  symptoms ;  and,  in  some  in- 
stances, the  speech,  after  having  been  thus 
lost,  has  suddenly  returned  for  a  minute, 
and,  in  the  succeeding  minute,  has  been 
again  taken  away.  This  symptom,  al- 
though extremely  distressing,  should  never 
excite  alarm,  as  in  no  instance,  I  believe, 
has  the  loss  of  voice,  produced  in  this  way, 
been  permanent  (37).  It  is  in  general 
easily  to  be  restored  by  the  use  of  stimu- 
lating gargles,  composed  of  mustard  seeds^ 


173 

and  horse- raddish*,  or  by  frequently  retain- 
ing, for  some  time,  in  the  mouth  a  piece  of 
horse-raddish,  or  pellitory  root\^  at  the  same 
time  that  the  patient  removes  to  a  pure  air, 
and,  if  in  a  state  of  debility,  endeavours  to 
invigorate  his  constitution  by  nutritious 
diet,  and  regular  exercise.  This  symptom 
has  been  known  to  be  instantly  removed  by 
means  of  electricity^  and  also  by  inspiring 
oxygen^  or  pure  air, 

*  Take  of  mustard  seeds  bruised, 

horse-raddish  cut  into  small  slices,  each 

half  an  ounce ; 
boiling  water  half  a  pint. 
Steep  the  mustard  and  horse-raddish  in  the  water 
in  a  covered  vessel,  for  the  space  of  an  hour,  then 
strain  the  infusion,  and,  when  cold,  add  to  it  a  drachm 
of  sal  volatile,  or  hartshorn. 

"**^"t  Radix  pijrethri. 

p  2 


174 

A  case  once  occurred  to  me,  in  which 
not  only  a  loss  of  voice,  but  a  partial  palsy 
of  the  muscles  of  deglutition,  producing 
an  imperfection,  and,  at  times,  a  total  inca- 
pacity of  swallowing,  ensued  upon  the  dis- 
appearance of  a  severe  catarrh,  attended 
with  sore  throat ;  and  which  did  not  entire- 
ly go  off  for  the  space  of  a  month.  In  this 
case,  the  patient  was  in  the  habit  always, 
previous  to  an  attempt  to  deglutition,  to  suf- 
fer a  tea-spoonful  of  brandy  to  pass  over  the 
affected  parts ;  after  which,  she  immediate- 
ly became  capable  of  swallowing  with  ease, 
but  again  lost  the  pov/er  of  doing  so,  after 
the  effect  of  the  stimulus  had  worn  off. 

I  have  now  laid  down  that  plan  of 
cure,  which  I  earnestly  advise  to  be 
adopted  in  the  domestic   management  of 


175 

colds,  and  which  I  flatter  myself  will  be 
found  to  merit  the  attention  of  those  to 
whom  this  complaint  may  be  a  source  of 
distress.  Before  I  quit  the  subject,  how- 
ever, I  will  beg  leave,  as  well  for  the  ge- 
neral information  of  the  reader,  as  for 
the  purpose  of  correcting  errors  in  judg- 
ment, to  which  those  who  are  unacquaint- 
ed with  the  principles  of  medicine  can- 
not fail  to  be  liable,  to  offer  a  few  re- 
marks on  some  of  the  principal  popular 
remedies. 

I.  Inhaling  the  vapour  of  hot  water. 
This  is  a  remedy  which  has  been  long 
in  use  in  this  complaint,  and  is  strongly 
recommended  by  Boerhaave,  Van  Svvie- 
ton,  sir  John  Pringle,  Cullen,  &c.,  in  all 
inflammatory    complaints    of    the    chest. 


176 

A  book,  however,  Has  been  written  ex- 
pressly on  the  advantage  of  this  practice, 
by  Mr.  Mudge,  of  Plymouth,  who  in- 
vented a  machine,  called  an  inhaler,  for 
the  purpose  of  conveyhig  steam  more 
commodiously  to  the  trachea  and  lungs. 
In  this  publication,  he  declares,  that  a 
tea- spoonful  of  paregoric  elixir,  taken  at 
bed- time,  in  some  warm  liquid,  and  the 
use  of  the  warm  vapour  arising  from  sim- 
ple water,  through  this  machine,  will  be 
sufficient  to  cure  a  catarrhous  cough  in  a 
night's  time*.  It  were  happy,  had  the 
success  attending  its  use  answered  the 
sanguine  expectations  of  this  author.  It  is 
certainly,  however,  a  remedy  of  very  con- 
^derable  efficacy,  when  employed   under 

*  Mudge  on  Catarrhous  Cough. 


177 

certain  circumstances  of  the  disease,  and 
may  always  be  advantageously  resorted  to 
as  an  adjuvant,  with  due  precaution,  and 
an  attention  to  the  period  of  the  complaint. 
Upon  the  first  commencement  of  catan'h, 
and  before  the  inflammatory  affection  of 
the  trachea  is  completely  formed,  I  have 
suspected,  that  it  has  often  had  the  effect  of 
rendering  the  subsequent  symptoms  more 
severe  ;  and  this  we  may  suppose,  a  priori^ 
to  be  the  case  in  a  majority  of  instances, 
where  it  is  used  too  early ^  :  but  at  a  more 
advanced  period  of  the  complaint,  it  tends 
powerfully  to  arrest  its  progress,  by  increas- 
ing the  secretion  from  the  glands  and  ves- 
sels of  the  part,  and  thereby  diminishing 
their   inflammatory   action.       The  vapour 

*  Vide  page  123,  et  -seq. 


178 

has  been  found  most  efficacious  when  im- 
pregnated with  a  sedative,  as  cicuta*  fhem- 
hck)^  or  the  white  poppy  (papavur  al- 
bum\J.  Vinegar,  and  Hoffman's  anodyne 
liquor  fspiritus  atheris  vitriolici  compose 
tusjj  are  also  combined  with  it  with  advan- 
tage. A  common  funnel  may  be  made  to 
form  a  very  good  succedaneum  for  the  in- 
haler, when  this  cannot  be  conveniently 
procured;  the  broad  part  being  inverted 
over  a  vessel  containing  the  water,  and  the 
steam  being  received  by  the  mouth  applied 
to  the  small  end. 

*  Vide  page  159. 

t  By  means  of  boiling  a  few  heads  of  the  ivhite 
fiotifiy  in  the  water,  the  steam  of  which  is  intended 
to  be  inspired. 


179 

II.  Steaming  the  head.  When  the  cdd 
chiefly  occupies  the  head,  it  has  been  re- 
commended, by  some  people,  to  suffer  the 
whole  head,  face,  and  neck  to  remain,  for 
a  considerable  time,  in  contact  with  the 
steam  of  water,  as  hot  as  the  patient  can 
bear.  This  is  advised  to  be  done  in  the 
following  way.  While  the  patient  sits  up 
in  bed,  a  pan  containing  two  or  three  quarts 
of  water  may  be  placed  immediately  under 
and  before  his  face,  letting  it  rest  on  his 
lap,  and  a  piece  of  flannel,  not  too  thick, 
being  put  over  the  head,  and  extending  un- 
der and  around  the  pan ;  this  will  keep  the 
steam  in  contact  with  the  face,  neck  and 
head,  and,  at  the  same  time,  will  admit  suf- 
ficient air  for  respiration*.      In  cases  of 

*  Hays  on  Coughs  and  Colds. 


180 

great  stuffing  up  of  the  nose,  and  difficulty 
of  breathing  through  the  nostrils,  I  have 
known  this  practice  have  the  effect  of  re- 
moving these  symptoms  in  the  course  of  a 
few  hours;  but  it  is  seldom  successful, 
where  there  is  considerable  pain  and  op- 
pression at  the  fore-part  of  the  head,  in  con- 
sequence of  some  inflammation  occupying 
the  cavities  communicating  with  the  nos- 
trils. In  this  case,  the  symptoms  are  ge- 
nerally aggravated  by  the  stimulus  of  the 
heat, 

III.  Pedeluvium  (38).  Bathing  the  feet 
in  luke-warm  water,  or  bran  and  water,  a 
little  hotter  than  milk  just  taken  from  the 
cow,  at  the  same  time  that  something  warm, 
as  a  glass  of  rum  and  water,  sweetened  with 
sugar,  or  water  gruel,  is  taken  internally, 


181 

forms  a  remedy  upon  which  many  people 
place  their  sole  reliance  for  the  removal  of 
their  colds.  The  pediluvium  is  a  simple, 
and  often  found  to  be  a  powerful  assistant 
to  the  operation  of  other  remedies,  by 
equalizing  the  circulation,  and  tending  to 
promote  sweat.  In  employing  this  prac- 
tice, however,  much  caution  is  neces- 
sary not  to  get  fresh  cold ;  the  feet  should 
be  carefully  and  speedily  wiped  dry,  and 
afterwards  wrapped  up  in  a  warm  dry  flan- 
nel, or  the  patient  should  immediately  go 
into  a  warm  bed. 

IV.  Inspiration  of  artificial  air.  The 
reports  of  those  who  are  advocates  for 
pneumatic  medicine  represent  the  use  of 
different  kinds  of  factitious  or  modified 
air,  inspired  by  means  of  an  appropriate  ap- 


182 

paratus,  as  having  been  productive  of  the 
best  effects  in  cases  of  catarrh.  In  obsti- 
nate cases  of  the  complaint  the  use  of  these 
may  be  resorted  to  with  a  fair  prospect  of 
success*. 

V.  Opium  and  paregoric  elixir.  Pare- 
goric elixir  is  a  very  common,  and,  by  a 
very  large  class  of  people,  considered  a  so- 
vereign remedy  for  colds  ;  being  supposed 
to  possess  some  specific  property.  It  also 
forms  the  basis  of  most  of  the  cough  drops 
vended  by  empirics.  If  a  person  who  has 
not  the  means  of  obtaining  better  advice 
go  to  a  chymistf,  and  enquire  for  the  best 

*  Vide  the  writings  of  Dr.  Beddoes,  Dr.  Thom- 
ton,  Cavallo,  and  others. 

t  It  is  a  common  practice  for  druggists  and  chy- 
mists,  as  a  means  of  retailing  their  medicines,  to 


183 

remedy  for  a  cold,  he  will  be  given  (pro- 
vided at  least  the  person  to  whom  he  ap- 
plies do  not  happen  to  be  the  vender  of  any 
quack  medicine  for  this  purpose)  paregoric 
elixir.  The  properties  of  this  medicine 
are  diaphoretic,  slightly  expectorant,  and 
anodyne  ;  it  containing  a  grain  of  opium  in 
about  every  thirty- six  drops.  It  has  recom- 
mendations from  its  simplicity,  as  well  as 
from  its  efficacy ;  for  that  it  often  has  the 
best  effect  there  can  be  no  doubt :  many 
people  entirely  depending  upon  it  for  the 
removal  of  their  complaint,  and  are  seldom 
disappointed  in  their  expectations  of  its  good 
effects.  The  form  in  which  it  is  usually 
administered,  is  the  value  of  a  tea-spoonful 


give  advice  in  simple  cases,  gratis,  to  the  lower  order 
of  people  who  apply  to  them. 


184 

about  every  six  hours,  and  the  last  thing 
upon  going  to  bed.  Its  efficacy  may  be 
increased  by  adding  to  each  dose  about  ten 
drops  of  antimonial  wine. 

VI.  Emetics,  The  operation  of  an 
emetic,  besides  its  more  immediate  effect 
in  evacuating  the  contents  of  the  stomachy 
produces  such  a  universal  commotion  in 
the  system,  as  to  excite  every  minute  fibre 
into  action ;  and  in  this  way  it  is  that  eme- 
tics prove  salutary  in  the  majority  of  com- 
plaints in  which  they  are  administered. 
They  excite  a  new  and  powerful  action, 
which  expels  or  overbalances  the  pre-exist- 
ing weaker  one.  Thus  they  arrest  the  pro- 
gress of  fever,  and  thus,  if  administered  at 
the  accession  of  catarrh,  they  will  prevent 
the   occurrence  of  the   symptoms   which 


185 

would  otherwise  infallibly  ensue.  In  three 
cases  out  of  four,  perhaps,  if  upon  feeling 
a  stuffing  of  the  nose,  dull  pain  in  the  head, 
sneezing,  and  other  symptoms  which  mark 
the  commencement  of  the  complaint,  a  per- 
son has  resolution  to  try  the  experiment,  he 
will  find  a  brisk  emetic  have  the  effect  of 
completely  restoring  him  to  his  natural  feel- 
ing* ;  but  I  have  before  observed,  that  this 
is  .a  remedy  so  extremely  unpleasant  in  its 
nature,  that  most  people  would  rather  put 
up  with  a  cold  than  submit  to  its  operation  ; 
when  the  complaint,  however,  threatens  to 
assume  a  very  severe  form,  this  plan  of 
prevention  may  be  resorted  to  with  every 
prospect    of   success.      Vomiting,    from 

*  On  the  use  of  emetics  in  catarrh.     Vide  Stoli 
Rat.  Med.  p.  7. 

^2 


186 

whcitever  cause,  will  also  prove  beneficial, 
not  only  at  the  commencement,  but  at  every 
period  of  the  complaint.  Subjoined  are  the 
most  convenient  forms  of  emetics*. 

VII.   Z);-.   James*  powder.      All  slight 
febrile  dispositions,  not  sufficiently  urgent 

*  Take  of  powder  of  ipecacuanha  from  seven  to 
fifteen  grains,  according  to  the  age 
and  strength  of  the  patient ; 
emetic  tartar  one  grain ; 
Mix  them  with  a  few  table-spoonfuls  either  of 
water  or  white  wine. 

Take  of  wine  of  i/iecacuanha  from  half  an  ounce 
to  an  ounce ; 
wine  of  antimony  a  drachm  j 
Mix  them. 

During  the  operation  of  an  emetic,  it  is  advisable 
to  drink  copiously  of  some  warm  diluent  fluid,  a^s 
cnamoir-ile  tea,  or  warm  water. 


187 

to  call  for  medical  advice  (of  which  the 
principal  is  a  severe  cold),  are  usually- 
treated  by  the  administration  of  James* 
powder •  This  is  a  preparation  oi antimony^ 
apparently  in  no  respect  differing  from  the 
pulvts  antimonialis  of  the  London  Pharma- 
copoeia than  in  being  milder,  and  is  perhaps 
the  only  patent  medicine  that  can  be  re- 
garded  as  really  useful.  In  the  v^ay,  how^- 
ever,  in  which  it  is  usually  made  up  by  the 
venders*,  it  is  liable  to  be  administered  in 

*  Principally  Newberry,  the  proprietor,  and  Per- 
rin,  of  Southampton-street,  who  professes  to  have 
made  the  medicine  for  many  years  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  inventor.  It  is  to  be  lamented  that  this 
medicine  is  sold  at  such  an  exorbitant  price,  each 
packet  vended  by  Newberry  being  now  charged  half 
a  crown,  whereas  its  intrinsic  value,  exclusive  of 
paper,  &c.,  &c.,  cannot  be  more  than  one  penny. 


188 

very  unequal  and  uncertain  doses ;  a  pack- 
et often  containing  some  grains  more  or 
less  than  is  specified* :  a  circumstance 
which  may  often  be  attended  with  inconve- 
nience, and  perhaps  with  unpleasant  conse- 
quences to  the  patient.  I  would  recom- 
mend it,  therefore,  to  every  one  who  places 
any  reliance  upon  this  remedy,  to  weigh 
accurately  the  number  of  grains  they  design 
to  take,  or,  if  economy  is  an  object  to 
them,  to  supply  its  place  with  the  common 
antimonial  powder,  which  is  in  every  res- 
pect an  equally  good  medicine.  The  dose 
of  this  is  from  three  to  eight  grains,  made 
up  into  the  form  of  a  pill,  or  taken  in  a  lit* 
tie  honey  or  jelly. 

*  Vide  what  is  said  on  this  subject  by  Mr.  David- 
son, in  his  Observations  on  the  Pulmonary  System. 


189 

VIII.  Patent  medicines.  Of  the  various 
medicines  advertised  as  infallible  remedies 
for  the  cure  of  coughs  and  colds ^  the  more 
noted  are — Perrin's  balsam  of  lungwort*, 
Allen's  balsam  of  liquoricef,  the  balsam  of 

*  Lungwort  (fiulmonaria  maculata^  pubnonaria 
•fficinalis^  Linn.)  was  formerly  much  employed  m 
pulmonary  complaints,  but  has  long  since  been  re- 
garded as  perfectly  inert,  and  is  now  deservedly 
fallen  into  disuse.  With  regard  to  this  supposed 
preparation  of  it,  it  is  much  to  be  doubted  whether 
a  single  grain  of  the  plant  is  employed  in  the  com- 
position. The  lungwort  possesses  no  properties 
that  can  be  deemed  balsamic,  and  the  mucilaginous 
part  of  the  plant,  in  which  its  virtues  are  supposed  to 
reside,  cannot  be  imparted  to  the  spiritous  men- 
struum with  which  the  medicine  in  question  is  made. 
Vide  Medical  Obseruer^  A'b.  l.p.  11. 

t  Apparently  consisting  of  nothing  more  than  % 


190 

honey*,   Godbould's    vegetable  balsamf, 

kind  of  paregoric  elixir,  impregnated  with  aniseeds. 
Med.  Observer^  fi.  3. 

*  Sold  by  Shaw,  in  St.  Paul's  Church-yard,  and  ad- 
vertised as  being  invented  by  sir  John  Hill.  "  A 
preparation  which  every  one,  the  least  versed  in 
chymistry,  must  know  could  not,  by  any  chymical 
process  whatever,  be  made  from  honey.  In  phar- 
macy, or  chymistry,  there  is  no  such  preparation 
known  as  balsam  of  honey ^  nor  is  the  spirit  with 
which  this  pretended  balsam  is  made  capable  of  ex- 
tracting any  of  its  medical  properties."  Med.  Ob- 
server, p.  17. 

t  "  On  examining  this  nostrum  we  do  not  discover 
any  property  that  can  possibly  entitle  it  to  the  appel- 
lation of  a  balsam  ;  but  the  propriety  of  the  term  ve- 
getable we  cannot  dispute,  since  vinegar,  sugar,  and 
honey,  are  vegetable  productions.  We  can,  how- 
ever, positively  deny,  that  it  possesses  the  balsamic 
property  of  vegetables,  and  our   examinations,  as 


191 

Lucas'  pure  drops  oflife^,  Madden* s  vege^ 
table   essence-\,   Solomon^ s  cordial  balm  of 

ivell  as  the  trials  we  have  known  to  have  been  made 
with  it,  do  not  justify  our  attributing'  to  it  any  vir- 
tues superior  to  the  common  oxymel  of  the  shops, 
although  sold  at  the  very  exorbitant  rate  of  eighteen 
shillings  per  pint,  for  which  a  regular  chymist 
would  be  ashamed  to  ask  as  many  pence."  Med. 
Observer^  p.  33. 

*  The  title  of  this  medicine  is  so  truly  ridiculous, 
and  the  complaints  for  which  it  is  recommended  so 
opposite  in  their  nature  (coughs  and  colds,  consump- 
tions and  cholera  morbus),  that  it  is  extremely 
doubtful  whether  it  possesses  any  property  really 
useful,  other  than  that  of  a  simple  carminative, 
which  in  complaints  of  the  chest  is  often  more  likely 
to  prove  injurious  than  beneficial. 

t  "  Mr.  Madden  declares,  that  no  mineral  or  me- 
tallic substance  enters  into  the  composition  of  bis 


192 

Gilead^,  the  balsam  of  horehound-f,  the  es- 


nostrum,  but  that  it  is  merely  a  vegetable  essence. 
It  resembles  much  the  infusion  of  roses  of  the  Lon- 
don PharmacopcEia,  both  in  taste  and  appearance, 
and  the  dose  for  an  adult  being  only  sixty  drops,  we 
are  inclined  to  doubt  much  the  accuracy  of  the  as- 
sertion ;  probably  Mr.  M.  may  not  be  aware  that  oil 
of  vitriol  is  a  mineral  production !  It  is  by  no 
means  deserving  of  the  title  of  an  essence  of  vegeta- 
bles." Its  having  any  efficacy  whatever  in  the  cure 
of  coughs  and  colds  may  be  reasonably  suspected, 
if  not  positively  denied.  Vide  Med.  Observer^ 
fi.  50. 

*  This  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  medicines 
that  has  been  offered  to  the  -world  for  many  years 
past ;  so  extensive  indeed  has  been  its  sale,  that  the 
proprietor  has  already  made  a  princely  fortune. 
Among  its  other  boasted  properties,  it  has  lately  been 
much  extolled  as  a  remedy  for  coughs  and  colds. 


193 

sence  of  horehound\^  the  essence  of  colts- 
foot\^  various  preparations  of  the  balsam  of 
Tolu^. 

Its  title  is  not  sufficient  to  convince  us,  neither  does 
examination  discover  that  it  is,  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree, impregnated  with  the  true  balm  of  Gilead  or 
Mecca.  The  author  has  suspected  it  to  contain  a 
preparation  of  the  digatalis  ;  if  this  be  really  the 
case,  the  greatest  degree  of  caution  is  required  in 
its  use. 

t  The  sensible  qualities  of  the  horehound  ave,  "  a 
moderately  aromatic  smell  and  bitter  taste."  The 
coltsfoot  has  "  a  rough,  mucilaginous  taste,  bu'  no 
remarkable  smell."  How  it  is  possible  to  make  an 
essence  from  these  indigenous  plants,  possessing 
their  demulcent  properties,  is  'truly  incomprehen- 
sible. 

*  Balsam  of  Tolu  is  a  very  grateful  medicine,  in 
consequence  of  its  having  a  warm,  sweetish  taste 
R 


194 

I  here  beg  leave  earnestly  to  recommend 
to  every  one  who  values  the  preservation  of 
health,  never  to  trust  for  the  cure  of  any 
complaint,  more  especially  an  obstinate 
cough,  to  medicines  of  the  description  of 
those  just  mentioned ;  or,  in  other  word^, 
to  the  arcana  of  charlatans.  Most  of  them, 
they  may  be  assured,  are  either  perfectly 
inert,  or  really  hurtful.  By  resorting  to 
these,  therefore,  and  persisting  in  their  use, 
they  are  liable  to  let  slip  the  favourable  op- 

and  an  extremely  fragrant  smell,  somewhat  resem- 
bling that  of  citrons.  It  is  one  of  the  reputed  reme- 
dies for  "  coughs^  coldsy  and  co7isu7n/itzo7is."  It  re- 
quires, however,  to  be  employed  with  some  caution  ; 
its  properties  are  too  stimulant  to  render  its  use  ad- 
visable in  recent  coughs;  in  protracted  ones,  and 
under  a  weakened  state  of  the  lungs,  it  may  prove 
beneficial  by  being  balsamic  and  corroborant. 


195 

portunity,  when,  by  more  rational  means, 
their  heahh  might  have  been  easily  restored, 
and  their  complaint,  thus  gaining  ground 
under  the  use  of  an  ineffectual  remedy, 
will  often  become  inveterate  in  its  nature, 
and  set  all  human  skill  at  defiance.  Even 
supposing  the  medicine  employed  really 
possesses  the  virtues  ascribed  to  it  by  the 
proprietor,  it  cannot  be  equally  applicable 
to  all  the  various  forms  and  stages  of  the 
complaint  for  which  it  is  recommended. 
If  in  one  state  of  a  disease,  judiciously  ad- 
ministered, it  prove  a  successful  remedy, 
in  another  it  must  of  consequence  be  in  the 
highest  degree  injurious. 

When  we  reflect  upon  the  extreme  ig- 
norance of  the  generality  of  our  empirics, 
and   look   to   the   unblushing    impudence 


196 

with  vvhich  they  usher  into  the  world  a  col- 
lection of  trash,  the  inefficacy  of  which  it  is 
in  the  power  of  every  one,  in  the  least  ac- 
quainted with  medicine,  to  detect,  every 
Reflecting  mind  must  be  conscious  of  the 
mischief  that  must  occasionally  result  from 
the  destructive  traffic  in  which  they  are  suf- 
fered to  proceed  with  impunity. 

It  is  the  lower  classes  of  society  that  are 
more  especially  liable  to  be  taken  in  by  the 
false  assertions  of  these  infamous  venders 
of  poison,  and  these  almost  uniformly  pre- 
fer the  use  of  a  patent  medicine  to  the  ad- 
vice of  a  regular  practitioner.  The  author 
of  these  pages,  from  having  had  the  care  of 
the  poor  in  a  very  populous  district,  has 
often  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  this 


197 

fatal  prepossession,  and  has  repeatedly  seen 
the  industrious  peasant,  the  pride  of  Bri- 
tain, fall  a  sacrifice  to  the  delusion.  It  is 
only  a  short  time  since,  that  a  poor  and  ho- 
nest fellow,  who  had  been  universally  res- 
pected in  the  parish  where  he  resided,  for  his 
industry  and  the  economy  which  enabled 
him  to  support  a  large  family  with  credit,  ap- 
plied for  advice,  in  an  advanced  stage  of 
pulmonary  consumption.  Upon  an  inquiry 
into  the  history  of  his  complaint,  it  ap- 
peared, that,  by  the  strong  recommendation 
of  a  neighbour,  he  had  been  induced  to 
take  a  celebrated  advertised  medicine  for 
coughs  and  colds,  and  had  continued  its 
use,  under  the  firm  persuasion  of  its  infalli- 
bility, until  the  little  money  he  had  saved 
by  industry  was  expended  in  purchasing  it 
R  2 


198 

at  the  enormous  price  at  which  it  is  sold  by 
the  quack ;    his   lungs   became   incurably- 
diseased,  for  want  of  proper  timely  assist- 
ance, and  in  this  state  he  was  reduced  to 
the   necessity   of  applying   to  the    parish 
for  relief.      Thus  was  a  worthy  and  res- 
pectable family  for  ever  deprived  of  their 
support,  and  society  of  a  valuable  member, 
by  the  barefaced  protestations  of  an  impu- 
dent empiric,  who,  totally  ignorant  of  phy- 
sic, and  the  administration  of  remedies,  and 
actually  unable  to  spell  one  word  out  of 
three,  correctly^  in  his  letters  to  his  corres- 
pondents, from  having  been  a  journey- 
man BAKER,  became  at  once  a  self-dubbed 
doctor,    and   unblushingly  offered   to  the 
world  the  product  of  perhaps  a  few  insipid 
vegetables,   for  the  cure   of  a   complaint 


199 

which  even  the  judicious  hand  of  science 
is  too  often  unable  to  cope  with.  Doubt- 
less the  Uves  of  many  are  yearly  sacrificed 
in  the  same  way. 

These  fatal  impositions  are  surely  of 
sufficient  importance  to  merit  the  attention 
of  the  legislature  :  the  whole  system  of 
quackery  cannot  be  too  much  reprobated 
by  "  every  medical  man,  every  friend  to 
humanity,  and  every  advocate  for  the  respec- 
tability of  our  national  character ;  inasmuch 
as  it  not  only  affects  the  lives  of  the  ignorant 
and  credulous,  but  must  tend  to  injure  our 
professional  reputation,  and  render  us  con- 
temptible abroad :  for  what  opinion  must  the 
physicians  on  the  continent  form  of  us,  on  ob- 
serving, in  our  public  prints,  and  in  the  Ham- 


200 

burgh  papers*,  specifics  advertised  for  the 
cure  of  consumption,  cancer,  stone,  the  ve- 
nereal disease,  without  mercury,  &c.,  when, 
from  the  very  nature  of  those  diseases,  they 
must  know  that  their  different  stages  require 
different  treatment?  and  what  must  the  con- 
tinental chymists  say  on  seeing  such  pre- 
parations as  balsam  of  liquorice,  balsam  of 
horehound,  balsam  of  honey,  a  concentrated 
solution  of  charcoal,  &c.t,  which  they  must 
know  to  be  fictitious  names?  and  it  is  a 

*  "  Many  of  this  class  of  medicines  the  author 
has  observed  to  be  advertised  in  the  Hamburgh 
Correspondence  and  American  papers." 

t  "  In  Russia,  to  the  great  disgrace  of  our  country, 
the  importation  of  English  quack  medicines  has 
been  prohibited,  notwithstanding  they  were  sanc- 
tioned by  a  patent  from  this  country :  a  convincing 
proof  of  the  wisdom  and  policy  of  that  government." 


201 

well  known  fact,  that  the  characters  of  our 
chy mists  have  so  much  suffered  on  the  con- 
tinent, inconsequence  of  these  dishonourable 
practices  of  empirics,  that  the  medical  men 
of  France,  Germany,  Denmark,  &c.,  sus- 
pect every  preparation,  or  article  in  powder, 
coming  from  this  country,  to  be  adulterated. 
Thus  the  industrious  and  honest  chymist  is 
punished  for  the  imposition  of  others*." 

IX.  Pectoral  lozenges*  All  lozenges  are 
composed  of  powders  made  up  with  gluti- 
nous substances  into  little  cakes,  and  after- 
wards dried,  either  in  the  air  or  by  a  slow 
fire.  Those  which  are  sold  by  chymists 
and  patent  medicine  venders,  under  the  ti- 
tle of  cough  lozenges,  pectoral  lozenges, 

*  Medical  Observer^  J^^imber  1.-/?.  5. 


202 

&c.,  &c.,  consist  of  saccharine  matter  va- 
riously impregnated.  Many  of  these,  no 
doubt,  are  made  the  vehicles  of  some  use- 
ful expectorating  medicine ;  but  I  can  take 
upon  me  to  assert,  that  the  greater  number 
of  them  possess  no  property  whatever,  but 
that  of  a  simple  mucilage,  flavoured  with 
some  grateful  aromatic,  and,  in  consequence, 
that  they  operate  only  as  common  liquorice, 
or  sugar- candy,  by  smearing  over,  and 
tiiereby  rendering  the  parts  they  cover  in 
their  descent  less  sensible  to  irritation. 
The  following  is  a  receipt  for  lozenges,  at 
least  equal  in  flavour,  and,  in  all  probability, 
superior  in  point  of  efiicacy,  to  any  sold 
under  a  patent : 

Take  of  refined  sugar,  in  fine  powder, 
three  ounces ;  of  raspberry  jam  one  ounce  ; 


203 

of  finely  pulverized  gum  arable  one  ounce-; 
of  soft  purified  opium  two  scruples;  of 
emetic  tartar  four  grains.  Rub  the  opium 
and  the  emetic  tartar  with  the  raspberry  jam, 
until  they  are  intimately  incorporated,  and 
then  add  the  other  ingredients,  either  with  or 
without  a  little  warm  water,  as  the  paste  hap- 
pens to  be  more  or  less  consistent.  Form 
lozenges,  each  weighing  about  eight  or  ten 
grains,  and  dry  them  by  means  of  a  very 
gentle  heat. 

To  those  who  make  their  own  lozenges, 
the  following  general  rules  may,  perhaps, 
prove  useful : 

"1.  If  the  mass  prove  so  glutinous  as 
to  stick  to  the  fingers  in  making  up,  the 
hands  may  be  anointed  with  any  sweet  or 


204 

aromatic  oil,  or  else  sprinkled  with  starch, 
or  powder  of  liquorice,  or  flour." 

"  2.  In  order  thoroughly  to  dry  the  lo- 
zenges, put  them  on  an  inverted  sieve,  in  a 
shady,  airy  place,  and  frequently  turn 
them." 

**  3.  Lozenges  are  to  be  kept  in  glass 
vessels,  or  in  earthen  ones  well  glazed."* 

X.  Indigenous  simples*  A  list  of  these, 
far  too  copious  to  enumerate,  have  long 
been  in  dome:;tic  use,  for  the  cure  of 
coughs  and  colds.  Our  native  herbs,  how- 
ever, were  formerly  much  more  employed 
than  they  are  at  present ;  but  their  good 
quJities  have  been  carefully  handed  down 
to  posterity,  and  are  stiii  held  in  religious 


205 

veneration  by  many  a  good  old  lady,  who 
prides  herself  upon  her  knowledge  of  the 
healing  art.  I  will  not  take  upon  me  to 
decide  whether  they  really  possess  the  efB- 
cacy  ascribed  to  them.  The  virtues  of 
those  in  common  estimation,  for  the  cure 
of  colds,  appear  to  reside  exclusively  in  the 
glutinous  or  mucilaginous  matter  with 
which  many  of  them  abound,  and  the  in- 
fusions made  of  these  are,  in  the  language 
of  our  house- wives,  ''  soft  and  healing,'^^ 

Suffice  it  to  observe,  that  those  most  fre- 
quently employed  for  this  purpose  are  the 
marsh  mallow^y  the  horehound^^  and  the 
coltsfoot%, 

*  ALthoea  officinalis,     Lin. 

t  Marrubium  alburn^  marrubium  vulgar e.    Lin. 
%  Tu^silago.     Farfara  bechiavu 
S, 


ANNOTATIONS, 

EXPLANATORY  AND  PRACTICAL: 

IN  WHICH  IS  EXHIBITED 

A  NEW  THEORY 

©N  THE  ACTION  OF  MANY  OF  THE  PREDISPOSING 
AND    EXCITING 

CAUSES  OF  CATARRH; 

WITH    ORIGINAL    AND    APPROVED    RECEIPTS    TOR   THT 
CURE    OF    THAT    DISORDER    IN 

THE  UNITED  STATES. 


BY  J.  STUART,  M.  D.,  ^c. 


juvat  integros  accedere  fonteis, 


Atque  haurire:  juvatque  novos  decerpere  flores: 
Insignemque  meo  capiti  petere  inde  coronam, 
Unde  prius  nuUi  velarint  tempera  Musje. 

LucRET.  lib.  I.  V.  926. 


NOTES,  &c. 


1.  THE  EXTENSIVE  DOMINION  OF  CATARRH. 

Page  3. 

IT  is  much  to  be  lamented,  that  the  preceding 
paragraphs  should  contain  truths  of  too  general 
application  to  be  confined  to  the  island  of  Great 
Britain  alone.  They  extend  to  every  country  and 
place  on  the  globe,  but  to  none  are  they  more 
particularly  applicable  than  to  the  climate  of 
North  America,  and  that  of  Philadelphia. 


2.     LOSS    OF    APPETITE. 

Page  21. 

The  loss  of  appetite,  in  this  climate,  is  by  no 
means  an  inseparable  attendant  on  catarrh ;  on 
the  contrary,  in  many  cases,  the  appetite  remains 
totally  unimpaired,  and,  in  some,  it  is  increased 

almost  to  voraciousness. 


210 

3.    AIR    OF    MANUFACTORIES    AMELIORATED. 

Page  40. 

This,  probably,  is  to  be  attributed  as  much  to 
the  rarity  of  the  air,  in  such  places,  not  admitting 
the  usual  quantit}^  of  oxygen  in  a  given  volume, 
as  to  any  other  cause.  Hence,  might  not  this  evil 
be  remedied,  or  prevented,  by  increasing  the  rela- 
tive proportion  of  this  principle  by  art  ? 

4.     IRREGULARITY    OF    ANIMAL    HEAT. 

Page  51. 

This  may  be  accounted  for,  by  supposing  it  to 
depend  on  an  occasional  increased  compression  of 
the  cerebellum  diminishing  the  susceptibilit}^  of  the 
arterial  system  to  stimuli.  The  same  thing  takes 
place  in  the  comatous  state  of  fever,  when  even 
that  extremely  delicate  and  sensible  organ,  the 
eye,  may  be  touched  with  the  finger,  without  evi- 
dencing the  least  sensibilit\'^  or  symptom  of  ex- 
citement. 


211 

5.    INCREASED    ACTION    ACCOUNTED    FOR. 

Page  54. 

This  rather  happens  from  the  re-accumulation 
of  susceptibihty,  by  the  abstraction  of  heat,  which 
before  acted  with  too  much  power  for  the  system 
near  a  state  of  exhaustion. 


6.    THE    ACTION   OF    HEAT. 

Page  54. 

This  is  a  true  state  of  exhaustion.  Long-con- 
tinued heat  so  far  transcends  the  action  of  the  or- 
dinary stimuli  of  life,  that  the  nervous  system 
becomes  insensible  to  these  almost  altogether,  or, 
in  the  language  of  the  day,  excitability  becomes 
exhausted. 


212 

7.    or    THE    ACTION    OF    COLD. 

Page  55. 

Upon  the  application  of  intense  or  long-con- 
tinued cold  to  the  extremities,  debility  in  the  ex- 
treme capillary  arteries  succeeds,  and,  consequent 
to  this,  a  diminished  circulation  in  the  skin,  which 
is  followed  by  an  imperfect  oxygenation  of  the 
blood,  which  last,  if  the  system  be  so  balanced 
as  to  escape  topical  inflammation,  always  predis- 
poses to,  or  actually  induces  sleep.  The  same 
takes  place  in  ascending  the  Alps,  and  in  many 
other  places  surrounded  by  rarefied  air.  Vide 
M.  Saussure. 


8.    UNITY    OF    DISEASE. 

Page  57. 

Did  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  disease  require 
any  thing  more  than  a  knowledge  of  nature  and 
of  the  functions  of  the  animal  economy  for  its 
support,  this  observation  should  certainly  set  it 

far  beyond  the  p?Je  of  rontroversv.    In  it  are  con- 


213 

tained  truths,  than  the  knowledge  of  which  no 
principle  in  medicine  is  of  more  importance  in 
the  cure  of  disease  ;  and  yet,  until  the  day  of  our 
American  Hippocrates,  how  strangely  have  they 
been  neglected ! 


9.  COMPARATIVE  SCALE  OF  THE  RELATIVE 
STRENGTH  OF  THE  LUNGS  AND  SKIN. 

Page  58. 

Hence  it  may  be  inferred,  that  some  parts  of 
the  system  are  relatively  sti^onger  at  some  times 
than  at  others  ;  and  hence  also  might  be  formed 
a  comparative  scale  of  the  strength  of  the  lungs 
with  that  of  other  parts,  and  more  particularly 
with  that  of  the  superficies. 


10.   CAUTION. 

Page  ^'2,, 

In  these  observations  is  suggested  the  necessity 
of  the  greatest  caution  in  approaching  the  fire, 
drinking  stimulating  liquors,  the  eating  generous 


214 

and  high-seasoned  viands,  lying  under  a  great 
weight  of  hed-clothes,  or  in  heated  rooms ;  after 
long  exposure  to  cold,  a  camp  life,  &c.,  &c. 


11.     OF    DRINKING    COLD    FLUIDS. 

Page  64. 

So  many  melancholy  occurrences  of  this  nature 
have  happened  in  the  different  towns  and  cities  of 
the  United  States,  and  more  particularly  such 
great  numbers  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  that 
na  opportunity  of  precautioning  the  inhabitants 
against  an  indulgence  in  drinking  cold  water, 
when  warm,  should  ever  be  neglected.  The 
pernicious  consequences  incident  to  this  act  of 
imprudence  may  be  always  avoided  by  waiting 
for  the  body  to  cool  before  drinking ;  or  by  fre- 
quently rinsing  the  niouth,  and  washing  the  hands 
and  face  with  some  of  the  cold  fluid,  before  any  is 
swallowed;  or,  finally,  by  taking  a  very  small 
portion  at  a  time,  until  the  appetite  for  it  is  some 
what  allayed. 


215 

12.     HYSTERIA    AND    ATONIC    GOUT. 

Page  95. 

The  ladies,  in  this  and  many  other  cold  climates, 
are  obser\-ed  to  be  much  subject  to  dyspepsia, 
hysteria,  colic,  and  various  other  diseases  termed 
nervous.  These  in  most  cases,  it  is  presumed, 
may  veiy  justly  be  considered  only  so  many  forms 
of  atonic  gout,  passing  by  the  extremities,  to  use 
the  words  of  a  celebrated  ph^'sician  of  this  city, 
and  arising  from  deficient  excitement,  by  want  of 
attention.to  clothing  these  paits  sufficiently  warm. 

IS.     OF    FLANNELS    WORN    NEXT    THE    SKIN. 

Page  96. 

Better  authority  could  not  be  adduced  for  the 
salutar}^  effects  of  wearing  flannels  next  the  skhu 
But  when  warm  rooms,  a  large  quantity  of  bed- 
clothing,  warming  of  beds,  and  even  clothing  the 
body  unusually  wai'm,  are  considered  predispos- 
ing causes  to  catarrh,  and  wearing  flannels  next 
the  skin  a  preventive  of  the  same  disease,  our 


216 

author  certainly  speaks  in  paradoxes.  For  if  it 
be  true,  and,  it  is  presumed,  none  will  be  hardy 
enough  to  deny,  that  the  causes  mentioned  as  noxi- 
ous must  produce  their  hurtful  effects  by  so  pre- 
venting the  escape  of  heat,  generated  in  the  body 
as  to  accumulate  an  artificial  atmosphere  too  warm 
for  the  preservation  of  the  functions  of  the  body  in 
a  state  of  health  and  regularit)^,  and  that  the  good 
effects  of  flannel  are  to  be  attributed  to  its  non-con- 
ducting powers  alone,  the  vmqualified  use  of  this 
last  cannot  be  admitted  without  eminent  danger  of 
inducing  a  disposition  to  catarrh  or  cold. 
Howevef  novel  the  doctrine,  and  however  repug- 
nant tathe  generally  received  opinion  of  physicians 
it  may  be,  the  editor  is  fully  convinced,  both  from 
observation  and  experience,  that  the  persons  most 
indifferent  to  the  use  of  flannels  next  the  skin  ai'e 
those  only  who  could  wear  them  with  impunity, 
if  not  with  advantage.  These  are  the  robust ,  and 
such  as  are  addicted  to  much  and  laborious  exer- 
cise. In  these  the  mobilit)^  of  the  system  is  less, 
any  occasional  excess  of  action  is  not  propagated 
firom  one  part  to  another  with  the  same  facility, 
and,  of  consequence,  the  circulation  is  more  uni- 
form and  regular. 


217 

Oa  the  other  haiid,  in  weakly  habits^  where 
there  is  seldom  a  well-balanced  circulation  for 
twenty-four  hours  in  succession,  the  heat  of  the 
artificial  atmosphere  and  that  continual yric^io^i  on 
the  skin  arising  from  the  non-conducting  proper- 
ties and  the  elasticity  of  the  flannel,  cannot  but 
induce  and  keep  up  constant  sensation,  if  not  ge- 
jierate  an  occasional  inflammatory^ diathesis,  in  that 
extensive  and  sympathizing  organ.  The  mobility 
of  these  last  subjects  is  such,  that  action  is  propa- 
gated with  the  greatest  facility  from  one  part  to 
another  the  most  remote  ;  hence  a  predisposition 
to  catarrh,  when  present,  is  increased,  or  even 
generated,  where  no  such  existed  before  ;  and 
nothing  remains  to  produce  the  disease  but  the 
application  of  an  exciting  cause,  which  is  always 
ready  in  the  vicissitudes  of  temperature  so  fre- 
quent and  sudden  in  the  climates  of  North  Ame- 
rica. To  this  may  be  added,  that,  after  a  long  ex- 
posure to  cold  air,  the  temperature  of  the  skin  and 
of  the  clothing  must  always  be  reduced,  while  the 
excitability  of  the  Schneiderian  membrane  must 
be  greatly  increased,  or,  in  other  words,  it  must  be 
rendered  much  more  susceptible  to  the  action  of 
heat  or  any  other  stimulus.    On  entering  a  warm 

T 


218 

room,  under  these  circumstances,  some  time  is 
required,  by  reason  of  the  non-conducting  powers 
of  the  flannels  in  contact  with  the  skin,  before  the 
temperature  of  the  room  can  reach  the  external 
surface  of  the  body,  while  every  inspiration,  in  the 
heated  air,  brings  a  most  powerful  and  active  sti- 
mulus immediately  to  the  parts  already  debilitated 
by  the  coolness  of  the  atmosphere  without,  and, 
by  an  accumulated  excitability,  in  high  prepara- 
tion for  reflecting  the  action  of  stimuli. 


14.     ABSORPTION    OF    PERSPIRATION. 

Page  97.  ' 

For  the  establishment  of  this  doctrine,  it  seems 
necessary  to  prove  that  absorption  of  the  perspi- 
ration is  eificacious  in  preventing  catarrh,  other- 
wise this  reasoning  must  be  considered  merely 
vox  et  prefer ea  nihil. 


219 


15.    OF  THE  ACTION    OF    FLANNELS    WORN    NEXT 
THE    SKIN. 

Page  97. 

If  flannels  worn  next  the  skin  absorb  perspira- 
tion, and  evaporation  strongly  promote  the  dis- 
sipation of  heat,  how  is  it  possible  they  should 
contribute  to  keep  the  system  warm  in  winter  and 
cool  it  in  summer  ? 


16.     OF    FLANNELS    WORN    NEXT    THE    SKIN. 

Fag-e  102. 

Upon  these  principles  it  will  appear,  no  cloth- 
ing, of  any  kind  whatever,  should  be  employed  in 
such  quantity  as  to  produce  sensation.  When 
this  is  the  case,  it  is  a  certain  proof  of  its  being 
too  heavy.  Clothing  of  every  description  should 
always  be  as  much  as  possible  accommodated  to 
the  state  and  vicissitudes  of  the  climate  in  v*^hich 
we  live ;  but,  on  any  sudden  transition  from  a 
lower  to  a  higher  temperature,  upon  the  principles 
here  advanced,  it  is  plain,  warmer  clothing  ought 


220 

never  to  be  exchanged  for  that  which  is  much 
lighter.  For  it  may  be  received  as  a  genexal  prin- 
ciple, that  the  exposure  of  the  bod}^,  or  of  any 
part  of  it,  to  a  colder  temperature,  is  ahvays  suc- 
ceeded by  an  increased  sensibility  or  susceptibility 
to  the  action  of  a  warmer  temperamre.  Hence, 
as  the  inner  surface  of  the  lungs  and  the  pituitary 
membrane,  in  its  whole  extent,  are  always  imme- 
diately exposed  to  the  action  of  the  surrounding 
atmosphere,  a  diminution  of  clothing,  by  dimi- 
nishing the  circulation  on  the  extremities,  must 
necessarily  be  followed  by  an  increased  determi- 
nation to  these  parts,  and  consequently  catarrh 

or  COLD. 


17^    PRECAUTION. 

Fag-e  102. 

To  these  precautions  maybe  added  those  against 
an  indulgence  in  animal  food  and  high-seasoned 
viands,  as  they  all  produce  the  same  effects,  and 
are  equally  dangerous  after  exposure  to  cold% 


221 


18.      OF     THE     DECOMPOSITION    OF     WATER     BY 
ANIMALS. 

Page  105. 

That  vegetables  have  the  pov/er  of  decompos- 
ing water,  and  appropriating  the  constituent  parts 
most    congenial,  to  their    nature   and  nourish- 
ment, is  now  incontrovertible,  and  that  animals  are 
endowed  with  the  same  or  similar  powers,  the 
editor  believes  is  not  less  certain.      The  great 
proportion  of  oxygen  in  the  composition  of  water, 
and  the  extensive  use  of  this  among  animals  of 
every  description,  strongly  intimates  that  this  is 
the  principle  in  v^ater  exclusively  appropriated  by 
them.      The  editor  has   suggested   an   opinion, 
if  not  proved,  that  oxygen  is  directly  sedative, 
in  consequence  of  its  power  to  unite  with  the 
blood,  and  thereby  to  remove  the  foreign  nature 
of  that  fluid.     The  use  of  water  by  all  anim.als, 
the   circumstances   under  which  it  is  most  re- 
quired, and  its  effects  under  these  circumstances, 
all  tend  to  the  confirmation  of  this  doctrine. 


T  2 


222 

All  animals  seek  this  fluid  after  full  meals, 
and  with  the  more  avidity  as  these  are  composed 
of  food  more  than  ordinarily  stimulating.  They 
seek  it  when  under  the  influence  of  exercise ;  in 
ardent  and  inflammatory  fevers;  and,  finally,  un- 
der all  impressions  from  the  influence  of  excessive 
stimuli  (which  are  generally  composed  of  highly 
-^attenuated  carbon)  ;  and  it  always  affords  relief, 
or,  at  least,  it  proves  a  temporary  remedy  to  the 
unpleasant  sensations  occasioned  by  these  causes. 
Now,  if  oxygen  were  a  direct  stimulus,  how 
should  a  fluid  containing  eleven  parts  of  fourteen 
of  this  gas,  and  decomposable  by  the  system, 
produce  such  strikingly  sedative  effects  ? 


19.  OF  THE  ACTION  OF  OXYGEN. A  NEW 

THEORY. 

Page  106. 

This  doctrine,  with  respect  to  the  modus  ope- 
randi of  oxygen,  however  generally  received,  is 
by  no  means  the  more  con-ect.  That  ox3'gen  is 
not  directly  stimulating  I  infer,  1st,  Because,  al- 
though a  person  long  exposed  to  a  contaminated 


223 

atmosphere,  in  which  an  insufficiency  of  this  vivi- 
fying principle  is  contained,  grows  pale,  although 
his  system  languish,  although  he  is  affected  with 
a  constant  inappetancy  to  motion,  yet  is  he  la- 
bouring under  an  irritative  febricula.  2ndly, 
That  this  is  not  from  any  deficiency  of  stimulus, 
but  from  an  excess,  I  infer,  because,  in  these  cases, 
blood  drawn  exhibits  an  inflammatory  crust, 
while  a  discharge,  in  this  way,  is  always  followed 
by  temporary  relief.  This  excess,  I  conceive,  is 
to  be  attributed  to  an  imperfect  state  of  that  fluid, 
when  deficient  in  one  of  its  elementary  or  con- 
stituent parts,  oxygen  gas.  In  consequence  of 
this,  it  may  be  said,  emphatically  enough,  to  be 
only  semi-animalized,  and  thereby  itself  to  become 
a  foreign  fluid,  and  an  inordinate  stimulus  to  the 
arteries,  which  keeps  up  that  constant  irritation 
wherein  the  f^.ver  consists.  Sdl}",  A  removal  to  a 
more  salubrious  atmosphere,  unless  the  patient  is 
too  much  exhausted,  is  generally  followed  by  a 
return  of  health;  while  the vuse  of  stimulating 
medicines  is  always  succeeded  by  injurious  ef- 
fects. Who,  then,  in  his  senses,  could,  for  a  mo- 
ment, suppose  a  cure  like  this  eflected  by  any  di- 
rectly stimulating  effiects  of  oxygen,  when  bark, 


224 

wine,  and  other  stimuli  are  employed  with  no 
better  success  than  that  of  producing  oedematous 
legs,  obstructed  viscera,  and  general  dropsy? 
The  fact  is,  oxygen,  by  uniting  with  the  unassi-- 
milated  parts  of  the  blood,  only  changes  its  quali- 
ties from  those  of  an  unnatural  fluid,  to  those 
more  congenial  to  the  arteries,  and,  thereby,  gives 
the  system  respite  from  that  constant  irritation 
which  excited  and  supported  the  disease.  And, 
hence ^  the  increase  of  excitement  succeeding  the 
use  of  oxygen,  only  results  from  the  application 
of  the  ordinary  stimuli  of  life,  while  oxygen  does 
no  more  than  to  predispose  the  system  for  their 
influence,  by  removing  the  unhealthy  stimulus 
of  imperfect  blood.  r 

These  observations  are  most  clearly  elucidated 
by  the  following  facts.  The  editor  having  ob- 
served that  many  died  of  confluent  small-pox,  as 
late  as  the  seventeenth,  and  even  the  twentieth 
day,  and  after  all  idiopathic  symptoms  of  the  dis- 
ease had  ceased  J  that  they  generally  laboured 
under  great  oppilation  and  oppression  at  the 
breast ;  and  that  the  blood  taken  in  such  cases  was 
invariably  sizy,  suspected  the  cause  of  death 


225 

to  exist  in  a  failure  of  the  skin  to  absorb  a  due 
supply  of  oxygen  gas,  in  consequence  of  the  ra- 
vages committed  on  this  organ,  by  the  disease. 
Upon  these  principles,  he  determined  on  supply- 
ing this  defect,  first  indirectly  by  diminishing  the 
quantity  of  fluids,  and,  afterwards,  directly,  by 
supplying  the  gas  required  immediately  to  the 
lungs.  The  difficulty  of  breathing,  which  before 
had  been  palliated  by  blood-letting,  was  much 
increased  by  the  first  few  inspirations,  but  shortly 
after  ceased  altogether,  w^hile  the  pulse  grew 
much  softer  and  more  open.  The  same  dose 
was  again  repeated  with  exactly  the  same  success, 
until  the  twenty-first  day,  when,  finding  the  means 
employed,  however  flattering  the  success  at  first, 
were  only  calculated  to  prolong  the  life  of  the 
patient,  without  affecting  a  radical  cure  of  his  suf- 
ferings, the  further  use  of  the  remedy  was  de- 
clined, which  was  followed  by  the  death  of  the 
patient,  on  the  twenty-first  from  the  attack* 

Nor  does  the  theory  here  advanced  rest  upon 
this  case  alone;  the  same  experiments  have 
been  since  repeated  with  the  same  success,  not 
only  in  this,  but  in  other  diseases  wherein  the  sys- 


226 

tern  was  supposed  to  suffer  from  a  privation  of 
the  same  principle. 

No  remedy  was  ever  applied  with  more 
strongly  marked  success  than  this,  in  what  was 
taken  for  angina  pectoris.  Bleeding,  in  this  case, 
had  been  used  with  only  temporary  respite, 
while  anti-phlogistics,  blisters,  and  the  whole 
catalogue  of  anti-spasmodics  had  all  been  em- 
ployed without  the  least  advantage.  Finally, 
upon  these  principles,  with  the  concurrence  of 
the  other  physician  in  attendance  (Dr.  Rush), 
oxygen  gas  was  resorted  to.  On  the  first  few 
inspirations,  the  cough,  dyspnoea,  and  anxiety 
were  evidently  increased.  The  chagrin  and  dis- 
appointment occasioned  by  this  were,  how- 
ever, of  such  short  duration,  that  it  would 
seem  they  were  sent  as  a  foil  to  heighten  the  ex- 
hilarating sensations  which  were  immediately  to 
succeed.  The  countenance,  from  the  depths  of 
gloom  and  despondence,  soon  became  tranquil 
and  serene,  the  respiration  became  free  and  easy, 
while  the  pulse,  which  was  before  chorded  and 
tense,  soon  became  open  and  soft,  and  the  unfor- 
tunate sufferer,  in  full  enjoyment  of  long-sought 


22! 


ease,  and  flushed  with  hopes  of  permanent  relief, 
exclaimed,  with  enthusiasm,  ''  he  plainly  felt  the 
gas  pervade  his  very  toes."  It  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, that,  although  the  blood  taken  before  the 
use  of  this  remedy  evidenced,  in  every^  instance,  an 
uncommonly  sizy  appearance,  a  small  portion 
taken  afterwards  did  not  exhibit  the  least  pheno- 
menon of  inflammation. 


20.  CATARRH  BY  CHANGE  OF  ATMOSPHERE. 

Page  107. 

The  effects  of  a  pm^e  atmosphere,  on  those  ac- 
customed to  breathe  one  more  contaminated, 
can  be  accounted  for,  on  the  principles  advanced 
in  this  work,  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner. 
The  blood  of  those  residing  in  large  cities, 
abounding  with  the  principle  of  carbon,  has  a 
much  greater  affinity  to  oxygen  than  that  of  more 
perfect  elaboration.  Hence,  upon  exposure  to  a 
pm-er  atmosphere,  in  the  countiy,  the  first  effects 
must  be  an  accumulation  and  detention  of  blood  in 
the  Schneiderian  membrane,  from  that  attraction 
before  noticed  between  the  superabounding  carbo- 


228 

iiic  principle  in  the  blood  and  the  increased  pro- 
portion of  oxygen  in  the  air  entering  the  nares, 
fauces,  and  lungs.  This  is  succeeded  by  a  local 
plethora,  in  this  membrane  in  particular,  while  a 
rapid  oxygenation  of  the  general  mass  of  blood 
must  so  increase  the  volume  of  fluids,  as  to  induce 
the  same  state  of  the  whole  system,  all  which 
must  necessarily  increase  a  predisposition,  or 
even  produce  one  which  before  did  not  exist,  to 

CATARRH. 

Hence  also  may  be  explained  the  good  effects 
of  the  advice  of  our  author.  The  blood  of  the 
children  mentioned  by  him,  supersaturated  with 
the  carbonic  principle,  on  exposure  to  an  atmos- 
phere, on  the  suburbs,  containing  but  a  slightly 
increased  proportion  of  oxygen  compared  to  that 
of  the  city,  became  so  slowly  oxygenated,  that  an 
increase'd  determination  and  accumulation  of 
blood  in  the  Schneiderian  membrane,  and  con- 
sequently catarrh,  did  not  take  place. 

The  practical  inference  from  this  theory  is, 
that  all  persons  leaving  large  cities  for  the  coun- 
try, will  generally  be  much  more  exempt  from 


229 

catarrh, .  and  every  other  inflammatory  disease, 
by  losing  a  little  blood  before  their  departure. 


21.  ACTION  OF  MUSK  AND  OF  THE  FUMES  OF 
THE  MURIATIC  ACID  ACCOUNTED  FOR. 

Fag-e  111, 

In  the  note  of  the  author  on  this  page  is  con- 
tained the  strongest  confirmation  of  the  truth  of 
the  principles  advanced  by  the  editor,  on  the  ope- 
ration of  oxygen  gas.  He  is  acquainted  with  a 
gentleman  who  is  invariably  affected  with  a  cory- 
za  (or  catarrh),  by  the  effluvia  of  musk.  These 
two  agents  operate  in  a  manner  very  different 
from  each  other.  The  action  of  the  fumes  of  the 
oxygenated  muriatic  acid  is  compound.  It  pro* 
duces  its  effects,  partly  by  a  directly  stimulating 
property  applied  immediately  to  the  vessels  of 
the  Schneiderian  membrane,  and  partly  by  the 
oxygen  in  its  composition,  as  explained  in  Note 
20.  Musk,  on  the  other  hand,  operates  directly 
by  its  stimulating  powers  applied  immediately  to 
the  sensible  fibre. 


230 

22,    OF    MOISTURE. 

Page  113. 

"  Moisture,  agreeable  to  the  theory  here  advan- 
ced, operates  by  absorbing  and  carrying  off  from 
the  surface  of  the  body  the  principle  of  caloric. 
By  this  means  the  extreme  vessels,  losing  the 
stimulus  of  heat,  become  inactive,  the  circulation 
languishes,  and  the  blood,  in  the  skin,  not  ap- 
proaching the  atmosphere  at  a  proper  distance, 
oxygenation  fails.  From  the  internal  situation 
of  the  pituitary  membrane  in  general,  it  must  con- 
stantly preserv^e  .a  higher  temperature  than  the 
superficies,  and  the  momentum  of  the  circulation 
will  continue  the  same,  while,  in  consequence  of 
tl>e  increased  attraction  of  the  blood  now  h}q)er- 
earbonated,  to  the  oxygen  in  the  atmosphere,  a 
plethora  in  this  membrane  will  take  place,  and 
that  increased  action  Vv^ill  folio v/,  which  constitutes 

CATARRH    or  COLD. 


2-31 


23.     DECOMPOSITION     OF      SEA     SALT.— A    NEW 
THEORY. 

Pag^es  116  and  117. 

That  part  of  the  salutary  powers  of  sea  salt, 
ill  counteracting  the  noxious  effects  of  moisture, 
depend  upon  a  diversion  to  the  skin  produced  by 
the  directly  stimulating  properties  of  that  sub- 
stance, cannot  be  doubted.  But,  as  these  effects 
are  not  so  evident  from  the  application  of  alcohol, 
or  any  other  substance  more  stimulating,  it  is  pro- 
bable that  the  sea  salt,  by  being  applied  particula- 
?i;?z  to  the  mouths  of  the  seroinhalants  (for  it  is  pre- 
sumed there  are  such  vessels),  suffers  decomposi- 
tion, from  whence  heat  is  evolved,  vvhich  adds 
directly  to  its  stimulating  powers  ;  while  the  oxy- 
gen absorbed,  uniting  with  the  abundant  carbon 
in  the  blood,,  takes  off  from  its  stimulating  pro- 
perties, and  thus,  diminishing  its  attraction  to  the 
Qxygen  in  the  atmosphere,  prevents  that  retarda- 
tion of  blood  and  consequent  engorgement  and 
inflammation  in  the  pituitary  membrane,  in  vv^hich 
consists    the  proximate  cause  of  catarrh  or 

COLD. 


232 

It  was  upon  these  principles  I  introduced,  in 
the  yellow  fever  of  the  ever-metnorable  year 
of  1 798,  a  strong  solution  of  sea  salt  in  heated 
brandy,  as  an  embrocation,  to  recal  the  lan- 
guishing circulation  to  the  skin,  with  the  great- 
est advantage.  For  it  seldom  failed,  even 
where  that  alarming  retreat  of  fever,  generally 
the  harbinger  of  dissolution,  had  commenced, 
to  produce  a  return  of  heat  to  the  skin,  when 
sinapisms,  blisters,  and  other  the  most  stimulat- 
ing remedies  had  been  tried  in  vain.  The  illus- 
tnous  Priestley  shov/ed  that  oxygen  was  absorbed 
by  the  blood  through  the  dense  membranes  of 
a  bladder.  Tlie  red  colour  of  hams  cured  with 
saltDetre  (kali  nitrat.)  proves  that  the  muscular 
fibre  has  really  the  power  of  disengaging  it  from 
the  coinpound  of  this  salt.  Why,  then,  under 
circumstances  much  more  favourable,  those  of  a 
constant  and  unifomi  degj'ee  of  heat,  assisted  by 
the  almost  inscrutable  functions  of  vitality,  should 
not  the  blood,  in  the  smaller  order  of  cutaneous 
vessels,  be-  equal  to  the  decomposition  of  this 
principle  from  sea  salt?  Reason  approves  the 
the  theorv,  and  facts  render  it  incontrovertible. 


233 

24.     THE    OPERATION    OF    COLD. 

Pa^e  122. 

Much  has  lately  been  said  concerning  the  ope- 
ration of  cold,  or  cool  air,  and  the  old  question- 
again  agitated,  "  whether  it  is  a  direct  stimulus, 
or  a  sedative ;"  and,  however  finnly  the  sedative 
operation  is  supported  by  its  effects,  some  have 
lately  gone  so  far,  to  support  a  contrary  hypo- 
thesis, as  to  interdict  the  exposure  of  their  pa- 
tients to  its  salutar)^  influence,  even  in  the  eruptive 
fever  of  small-pox.  The  strongest  arguments  of 
these  theorists  is  deduced  from  their  definition  of  a 
stimulus.  ^'  Any  power  is  a  stimulus  (say  they) 
which  produces  sensation^  motion^  or  thought^'' 
Then,  I  would  reply,  is  bleeding  a  stimulus  ?  By 
it  is  produced  the  sensations  peculiar  to  s\Ticcpe  \ 
bv  it  is  produced  ^o.  motion  of  falling  and  con- 
vukio?i]  and,  finally,  by  it,  in  the  timorous  and 
weak,  are  produced  thoughts  or  apprehensions  cf 
dying.  But  of  this  enough.  When  we  reflect 
on  the  .salutary  effects  of  cool  air  in  inflam- 
matory fevers,  and  its  certain  and  almost  imme- 
diate influence  in  checking,  and  even  annihilating 
u2 


234 

the  eruptive  fever  of  small-pox,  to  argue  against 
its  stimulating  powers,  would  be  to  abandon 
every  principle  in  medicine. 


25.       RATIONALIA      OF     THE     TWO     PLANS      OF 
TREATMENT. 

Page  124. 

However  contradictory  these  two  plans  of  cure 
at  first  view  may  appear,  nothing  can  be  more 
certain,  than  that  they  both  occasionally  succeed. 
But  in  order  to  determine  on  the  most  safe,  and 
consequently  the  most  advisable  plan  of  the  two, 
the  RATIONALIA  of  each  should  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration. That  which  admits  of  warm  drinks, 
warm  rooms,  and  warm  air,  when  it  operates  in 
a  manner  the  least  dangerous,  produces,  by  exces- 
sive excitement,  such  a  relaxation  of  the  exhalants 
of  the  bronchise  as  to  admit  of  a  secretion  of  mu- 
cus, or  pus,  which,  though  it  relieve  the  topical  in- 
flammation by  what  is  called  expectoration,  either 
lays  the  foundation  for  chronic  catarrh,  or  abso- 
lutely terminates  in  an  incurable  phthisis  pulmo- 
nalis.     Now,  it  is  plain  that,  should  these  exhal- 


235 

ants  not  admit  of  an  increased  dilation  of  their 
areas,  before  the  cellular  texture  interposed  be- 
tween the  air-cells  and  blood-vessels  of  the  lungs 
should  give  way,  this  treatment  must  give  rise  to 
inflammation,  effusion,  and,  perhaps,  a  fatal  peri- 
pneumonia, or,  from  the  same  causes,  may  succeed 
an  inflammation  of  the  pulmonary  and  costal 
pleura  and  its  consequences.  These  form  only  a 
few  evils  in  the  catalogue  which  may  justly  be  ap- 
prehended from  the  warm  plan  of  treatment ;  but, 
few  as  they  are,  they  must,  it  is  presumed,  be 
amply  sufficient  to  form  the  most  striking  con- 
trast to  that  which  prescribes  cool  air  and  the  an- 
tiphlogistic regimen.  By  the  application  of  cool 
air  immediately  to  the  parts  affected,  the  power- 
ful stimulus  of  heat  is  abstracted,  the  activity  of 
the  whole  arterial  system  is  diminished,  the  vis  a 
tergo  is  removed  from  the  inflamed  vessels,  these 
are  relieved  from  that  redundancy  of  blood  and 
increased  action  in  which  the  disease  consists, 
and  finally  recover  their  wonted  healthy  tone 
without  any  morbid  relaxation  of  their  extremi- 
ties, while  the  issue  is  brought  about  in  the  most 
approved  manner  the  art  aspires  to — dito^  tuto^  ac 
jucunde  (i.  e.,  quickly,  safely,  and  agreeably). 


236 

26.    OF    EXTERNAL    COLD. THE    THEORY. 

Page  125. 

No  truth  in  medicine  is  more  firmly  estab- 
lished than  this  assertion  of  our  author,  that  the 
free  and  extensive  use  of  external  cold  is  inadmis- 
sible in  catan-h, -however  salutary  in  other  febrile 
complaints  of  too  much  action.  The  rationalia 
of  this  are  not  less  evident.  Although  cold  air 
should  reduce  the  inflammatory  action  of  the 
parts  affected  by  coming  immediately  in  contact 
with  them,  yet,  as  the  action  of  the  general  sys- 
tem does  not  subside  in  an  equal  ratio  with  that 
of  the  topical  affection,  the  vessels  of  this  last 
must  still  remain  in  that  state  of  accumulated  ex- 
citabilit}^,  with  respect  to  the  general  system, 
which  renders  them  subject  to  re-assume  their 
former  diseased  action,  as  soon  as  the  sedative 
power  of  cold  shall  be  removed. 


237 


2f.     THE   EFIECTS   OF    COLD    EXPLAlNi:©. 

Page  132. 

In  the  application  of  cold  to  the  external  sur- 
face of  the  body  in  catarrh,  three  things  are  always 
to  be  taken  into  consideration  :  1st,  The  stage  of 
the  disease  ;  for  it  can  be  applied  with  success 
only  in  the  inflammatory  or  first  stage  of  catarrh* 
2d,  The  mobility  of  the  system.  When  cold  is 
applied  to  the  extremities,  the  mobility  of  the 
system,  or  that  aptitude  to  propagate  impressions 
from  one  part  to  another,  should  always  be  in  a 
state  to  compensate  for  the  temporary  centripetal 
force  given  to  the  fluids  by  the  diminished  action 
of  the  cutaneous  vessels,  consequent  to  the  first 
impression  of  cold  on  the  surface  of  the  body. 
3d,  and  last.  Plethora  should  always  be  removed 
before  the  application  of  this  part  of  the  treatment. 
It  is  probable  it  was  from  a  difference  of  circum- 
stances in  the  unfortunate  case  just  detailed  by 
our  author,  and  the  case  of  Dr.  Hamilton's  boy, 
with  respect  to  these  particulars,  that  exposure  to 
cool  air  was  attended  with  such  various  and  dif- 
ferent success.     The  editor  once  knew  a  gentle- 


238 

man,  and  has  heard  of  several  similar  occurrences, 
cured  of  the  most  violent  inflammatory  catarrh 
by  wading  up  to  his  knees  two  or  three  hundred 
yards  in  the  cold  month  of  November.  In  this 
case,  he  supposes,  the  plethora  of  the  system  was 
inconsiderable,  wliile  the  abstraction  of  general 
excitement,  through  the  application  of  cold  to  the 
skin,  more  than  conipensated  for  the  centripetal 
force  consequent  to  the  temporary  debility  indu- 
ced on  that  organ. 


28.     or    BLOOD-LETTING    IN    CATARRH. 

Page  135. 

Scarcely  any  thing  respecting  this  disease  is 
better  calculated  to  prove  the  mildness  of  catarrh 
in  England,  when  compared  with  that  disorder  in 
the  United  States,  than  the  omission  of  a  practi- 
tioner judicious  as  our  author  to  mention  phle- 
botomy as  a  remedy.  In  this  country  it  is  almost 
indispensable,  insomuch  that,  in  all  cases  of  any 
violence,  the  loss  of  ten  or  twelve  ounces  of  blood 
should  be  the  first  means  employed. 


239 


29.     OF    THE    USE    OF    CALOMEL. 

Page  147. 

The  operation  of  calomel  in  the  cure  of  catarrh 
is  threefold  :  1,  It  reduces  action  in  the  general 
system,  by  its  effects  on  the  alimentary  canal,  sim- 
ply as  a  purgative.  For  this  purpose,  as  its  action 
is  slow,  it  should  always  be  assisted  by  some 
other  more  brisk  cathartic,  as  jalap  or  rhubarb. 
2,  By  producing  a  determination  to  the  liver,  an4 
thus,  by  an  increased  secretion  from  that  organ, 
securing  more  vital  parts,  and  relieving  those  af- 
fected with  catarrh.  3,  By  exciting  a  new  and 
general  action  in  the  arterial  system,  which  shall 
transcend  or  supersede  the  existing  morbid  action. 


30.      OF    THE    NAUSEATING    PLAN, 

Page  149. 

That  nauseating  doses  of  tartar  emetic  have  a 
considerable  effect  in  reducing  inflammatory  ac- 
tion, cannot  be  denied.  But  whatever  respect 
and  deference  be  due  to  our  author  as  a  judicious 


240 

practitioner,  I  cannot  but  observe  there  are  other 
remedies  equally  quick  and  safe,  and  much  more 
efficacious  and  pleasant,  in  the  cure  of^  catarrh. 
Nor  should  I  acquit  myself  of  that  duty  which 
the  public  have  a  right  to  expect,  were  I  to  pass 
over  so  strong  a  recommendation  of  this  cruel 
PKACTiCE  in  silence.  It  is  a  noisome  branch, 
sprung  from  that  theory  which  supposed  fever  to 
depend  on  spasm  for  its  proximate  cause.  The 
supporting  stalk  is  now  withered,  nay,  almost  de- 
cayed ;  it  is  time,  then,  this  one  of  its  most  pol- 
sonous  shoots  should  be  eradicated  ;  nor  may  it 
ever  grow  in  so  fair  a  garden  as  American  prac- 
tice presents.  In  this  case,  fifteen  grains  of  nitre 
(kali  nitraU')  every  hour,  in  some  convenient  fluids 
will  be  much  more  agreeable  and  equally  effica- 
cious. 


51.    OF    COLD    DRINKS. 

Page  150. 

^is  is  a  fact  which  clearly  illustrates  the  rea- 
soning in  Note  to  p.  132,  on  the  action  of  cold 
TO  THE  EXTREMITIES,     The  couscnt  of  the  sto- 


241 

jaiach  with  every  part  of  the  ammal  system  is  so 
generally  acknowledged,  that  this  organ  is  now 
admitted  to  be  the  medium  through  which  almost 
all  medicines,  taken  internally,  produce  their  ef- 
fects upon  every  part  of  the  frame.  Hence,  cold 
applied  to  this  viscus  must  be  attended  with  more 
speedy  and  certain  effects  than  to  any  other  part 
whatever.  Its  operation  in  this  case  is  simple  : 
it  produces  its  effects  merely  by  the  abstraction  of 
the  stimulus  of  heat. 


32.    OF    TULL    VOMITING. 

Page  154. 

The  editor  fully  concurs  with  the  author  in  the 
advantages  of  full  vomiting  in  the  commencement 
of  catarrh  ;  as,  under  proper  management,  it  sel- 
dom fails  to  terminate  the  disease  in  a  few  hours. 
But,  so  far  from  supposing  "  most  people  would 
consider  the  remedy  worse  than  the  disease,"  he 
conceives  there  are  veiy  few  who  would  not  pre- 
fer full  vomiting,  for  half  an  hour,  or  even  for 
an  hour,  to  a  distressing  nausea^  constantly  kept 
up  for  two  or  three  days  in  succession. 

X 


242 

S3,    NAUSEATING   PLAN    REPUDIATED. 

Pag-e  155. 

As  the  GRUEL  PRACTICE  of  nauseating  the  sto- 
mach for  the  cure  of  any  disease  may  be  justly 
repudiated,  the  use  of  gentle  saline  purgatives, 
instead  of  the  formula  of  the  author,  is  here 
recommended,  as  much  more  agreeable  and 
equally  efficacious.     For  this  purpose, 

Take  of  Glauber's  salt  (natron  vitriolat.^    one 
ounce  ; 
fresh  lemon  juice  one  ounce ; 
boiling  water  half  a  pint  j 
loaf  sugar  two  ounces  : 
Mix  and  dissolve  :  when  cold,  add  sweet  spi- 
rits of  nitre  two  drachms.     Mix  for  use. 

An  adult  should  take  two  table -spoonfuls  every 
hour,  until  the  bowels  have  been  well  opened." 
Afterwards,  as. an  alterative. 

Take  of  nitre  (kali  nitrat,)  half  an  ounce ; 
simple  water  half  a  pint ; 


243 

lemon  juice  half  an  ounce ; 
sweet  spirit  of  nitre  half  an  ounce. 
Mix  and  dissolve.     One  table-spoonful  to  be 
taken  every  hour. 


^4.    OF  THE  DIGITALIS    AND    THE    NITRIC    LAC. 

Page  157. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  digitalis 
should  not  have  been  so  successful  in  the  hands  of 
the  editor  as  to  authorize  his  commendation  of 
its  virtues  in  the  cure  of  pulmonary  complaints. 
On  the  contrary,  he  conceives  it  may  be  justly  con- 
sidered as  a  substance  which  gradually  undermines 
the  powers  of  life ;  that  it  ought  seldom  to  be  used 
in  any  stage  of  catarrh,  and  never  v/ithout  the  ad- 
vice of  a  skilful  and  prudent  practitioner.  In  such 
cases  as  this  described  by  the  author,  and  even  in 
many  cases  of  phthisis  pulmonalis,  the  editor,  for 
several  years  past,  has  used  what  has  been  called 
by  him  the  nitric  lac  ammoniac^  with  the  greatest 
success.    It  is  prepared  in  the  following  manner : 


244 

Infuse  two  draichms  of  pure  nitric  acid  in  pure 
water,  eight  ounces  (half  a  pint),^  gradually  pour 
the  compound  on  of  best  gum  ammoniac  (ferula 
Africana),  two  scruples  and  a  half. 

Triturate  them  in  a  glass  or  composition 
mortar,  until  the  whole  of  the  gum  is  dissolved, 
and  a  homogeneous  milky  fluid  is  formed.  The 
dose  is  one  table-spoonful  in  six  table-spoon- 
fuls of  sweetened  water,  or  of  any  other  conveni- 
ent vehicle  to  dilute  it,  every  three  or  foui'  hours. 


o5,      RATIONALIA      OF      THE      APPLICATION     Ot 
BLISTERS    TO    THE    BACK. 

Page  160. 

Hovv^ever  it  may  have  escaped  our  author,  this 
preference  is  founded  on  the  best  grounds  possi- 
ble. The  lungs  are  not  only  contiguous,  but 
they  are,  in  a  measure,  continuous  to  the  back ; 
they  are  connected  to  it  by  cellular  substance  and 
by  the  divaricating  pleura,  and  supported  by  the 
immediate  continuation  of  membrane  in  the  coats 


245 

of  the  larger  vessels  which  lie  on  the  vertebrae 
of  the  thorax,  or  chest. 


36.     OF    BLOOD-LETTING. 

Page  169. 

In  this  climate  at  least,  a  remedy  should  al- 
ways be  premised,  which  has  never  once  been 
mentioned  by  the  author,  in  the  whole  course  of 
this  essay ;  that  is,  bleeding.  It  is  a  certain  fact, 
established  as  well  by  experience  as  supported 
by  reason,  that  very  fcAv  cases  of  acute  inflamma- 
tory disease  occur  in  this  climate,  in  which  blood- 
letting should  not  precede  the  application  of 
epispastics  (blisters).  It  is  also  necessary  to  ob- 
serve, that  blisters  seldom  produce  so  good  an 
effect,  until  the  inflammatory  action  of  the  system 
has  been  pretty  well  subdued,  nor  even  then  earlier 
than  the  evening  of  the  third,  sixth,  or  eighth  day 
from  the  attack.  In  this  case  described  by  the 
author,  the  editor  would  recommend  a  prudent 
use  of  the  lancet,  and  the  antiphlogistic  plan,  as 
recommended  in  another  part  of  this  work,  until 
inflammatory  action  is  sufliciently  reduced,  and 


246 

Aen,  on  the  next  succeeding  of  the  days  before 
mentioned,  the  blister  may  generally  be  applied 
with  the  desired  effect. 


37»     OF    SENEKA    SNAKE-ROOt. 

Fa£rel72. 

In  these  cases  the  editor  would  recommend 
the  use  of  a  decoction  of  the  seneka  snake-root 
(poly gala  seneka),  as  a  remedy  the  most  effica- 
cious of  any  other  he  has  ever  seen  employed. 
The  following  is  the  formula  in  which  he  has  ge- 
nerally-used  it: 

Take  of  the  sliced  root  of  seneka  snake-root 
two  drachms ;  infuse  it  into  eight  ounces 
(i.  ^.,  half  a  pint)  of  boiling  water;  stew  it 
ten  minutes;  clear  off  the  fluid,  and  add 
two  ounces  of  honey. 

Let  an  adult  take  one  table-spoonful  every  two 
liQurs,  and  gargle  the  throat  frequently  therewith* 


247 

-38.     OF    PEDILUVIU3I. 
Pa^i-e  180. 

-Pediluvium^  upon  the  principles  before  laid 
down  by  the  editor,  it  is  plain,  must  be  used  with 
caution,  or  only  before  the  disease  is*  perfectly 
formed,  or  after  the  inflammatory  action  has  been 
in  some  measure  reduced  by  blood-letting  or 
purging.  Hence  it  can  be  useful  only  as  an 
auxiliary,  after  bleeding  or  purging.  The  glass 
of  rum  and  water,  to  say  the  least,  is  certainly  a 
hazardous  medicine,  and  certainly  ought  never 
to  be  admitted  as  a  part  of  the  cure ;  on  the  con- 
trar\^,  the  free  use  of  cold  water,  in  this  case, 
forms  a  safer  and  a  much  more  efficacious  re- 
medy. 


59.     OF    OPIATES. 

Page  182, 

Opium.,  nor  paregoric  elixir.,  should  never  be 
administered  in  the  first  stage  of  catarrh.  It  is 
only  in  cases  of  long  continuance,  where  inflam- 


248 

matory  action  has  totally  ceased,  and  in  which 
the  disease  is  kept  up  entirely  by  irritation,  aris- 
ing from  an  increased  secretion  of  mucus,  occa- 
sioned by  debility  in  the  exhalants,  that  opiates  of 
any  kind  can  be  used  with  safety,  or  advantage. 
In  such  cases  the  following  recipe  is  recom- 
mended with  the  gi'eatest  confidence : 

Take  of  paregoric  elixir  one  ounce  ; 

powdered  gum  arabic  one  ounce ; 
simple  water  two  ounces  ; 
sweet  spirits  of  nitre  two  drachms  j 
antimonial  wine  one  drachm. 

Mix  and  dissolve.     One  table -spoonful  to  be 
taken  whenever  tlie  cough  is  troublesome. 


FINIS. 


^^ 


